The Kansas City Chiefs traded for Tennessee Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, according to several reports.
Hopkins, 32, will help bolster a receiving corps that lost Rashee Rice, Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster to injuries.
The Chiefs are sending a fifth-round pick who can become a fourth-round pick if Kansas City reaches the Super Bowl and Hopkins plays 60 percent of the snaps as a Chief, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Tennessee will also pay Hopkins $2.5 million.
Hopkins had 15 catches for 173 yards this season for a Titans team that won just one game and struggled at the quarterback position. Hopkins suffered a knee injury in training camp that did not require surgery. He had 75 catches for 1,057 yards last season with Tennessee.
Hopkins is the third big receiver to be traded in the last eight days. Last week, the Las Vegas Raiders sent Davante Adams to the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns traded Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills. The Los Angeles Rams also reportedly threw Trade talks with former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp’s teams.
The Chiefs, two-time defending Super Bowl champions, have the best record in the NFL at 6-0, but are looking for a receiver to help out quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Brown is not expected to play in the regular season after undergoing shoulder surgery last month due to an injury he suffered in the preseason. Rice is also not expected to play for the remainder of the season. after having surgery two weeks ago to repair the posterolateral corner of his right knee. He was injured during a victory against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Smith-Schuster missed Sunday’s win over the San Francisco 49ers with a hamstring injury and has already been declared out for the Chiefs’ Week 8 game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
This is the third straight season the Chiefs have made an in-season trade for a wide receiver. In 2022, the Chiefs sent a third and sixth round pick to the New York Giants for Kadarius Toney. He is no longer on the roster, although he had 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 had left the Chiefs to sign with the Jets as a free agent during the offseason. Hardman caught the game-winning pass in overtime in Super Bowl LVIII and re-signed with the Chiefs this offseason.