The offseason chatter largely has cooled down heading into the 2023 NFL Draft, but there still is a huge asset teams are hoping to acquire.
The Arizona Cardinals have not been quick to deal DeAndre Hopkins, but that hasn’t stopped players from other teams making pitches to the Pro Bowl wide receiver, including New England Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon.
Hopkins, who turns 31 on June 6, hasn’t been too vocal about where his interests lie outside of Arizona, but appears the wideout doesn’t have interest in joining New England. He did seem to signal an interest with the Bills, and Von Miller added more fuel to that speculation when he revealed to reporters Tuesday that during their workout in Dallas, Hopkins said he wants to be in Buffalo, per Spectrum News 1’s Jon Scott.
This hasn’t been the first time Miller has floated a Pro Bowl receiver to the Bills. Odell Beckham Jr. was linked to Buffalo due to his friendship with the linebacker from their days with the Los Angeles Rams. That didn’t come to fruition, and Beckham signed with the Baltimore Ravens last week, taking him off the market. But Josh Allen might be getting some reinforcements soon, according to Miller.
“Word on the street is that we might be getting another big-time weapon,” Miller said on the “Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday. “We missed out on OBJ. There’s another big weapon out there. We might get him. Gabe Davis, Stefon Diggs, Dawson Knox, Damien Harris, (James) Cook and all the guys we got on offense — defense, we just picked up Taylor Rapp. … We got a great team coming in, man. Everybody else in our division got better. The (New York) Jets got better. The Miami Dolphins got better. The New England Patriots got better, and we got better, as well.”
Miller didn’t exactly name Hopkins on the show, but he did hint at him. It’s possible he also could have been referring to his former Denver Broncos teammate Jerry Jeudy, whose name has been floated in trade rumors.
The issue with a Hopkins trade appears to be compensation. Arizona likely wants a high price for the three-time All-Pro receiver, but Hopkins has dealt with injuries and is getting older, so other teams might disagree on a high-value draft pick.
Regardless, it looks like Miller is back on the recruiting trail and has set his sights on getting Hopkins to the Bills.
