DeAndre Hopkins will join the Kansas City Chiefs in a trade involving a last-round draft pick. (Photo by Brian Bennett/Getty Images)
The Kansas City Chiefs are finalizing a trade for Tennessee Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, ESPN reported.
Hopkins, 32, will help strengthen a receiving corps that lost Laci Rice, Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster to injuries.
It’s happening: The Titans and Chiefs are working on finalizing a trade that would send WR DeAndre Hopkins to Kansas City, league sources told ESPN. pic.twitter.com/aEeKEgI2D8
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 23, 2024
The Chiefs are expected to send a fifth-round pick and a potential fourth-round pick to the Titans for Hopkins.
Hopkins has 15 catches for 173 yards on a Titans team that has won just one game this season and has struggled at quarterback. Hopkins injured his knee during training camp, but did not require surgery. He had 75 catches for 1,057 yards last season at Tennessee.
Hopkins is the third notable receiver to be traded in the past eight days. Last week, the Las Vegas Raiders traded Davante Adams to the New York Jets, and the Cleveland Browns traded Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills. The Los Angeles Rams have also reportedly begun trade talks with the team for former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp.
The Chiefs, who have won two consecutive Super Bowls and have the NFL’s best record at 6-0, were on the market for a receiver to help quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Brown underwent shoulder surgery last month due to an injury sustained during the preseason and is not expected to play in the regular season. Rice also underwent surgery to repair the posterolateral corner of his right knee two weeks ago and is not expected to play for the rest of the season. He was injured in the win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Smith-Schuster missed Sunday’s win over the San Francisco 49ers with a hamstring injury and has already been ruled out for the Chiefs’ Week 8 game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
This is the third consecutive season the Chiefs have made a mid-season trade for a wide receiver. In 2022, the Chiefs sent a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick for Kadarius Toney to the New York Giants. Although he is no longer on the roster, he made a crucial punt return in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in February 2023.
Last season, the Chiefs traded a sixth-round pick to the Jets for Mecole Hardman and a seventh-round pick. Hardman left the Chiefs to sign with the Jets as a free agent in the offseason. Hardman caught the winning pass in overtime of Super Bowl III and re-signed with the Chiefs this offseason.
