New DeAndre Hopkins Report Ups Patriots’ Odds Of Landing Wideout

The New England Patriots remain involved in the DeAndre Hopkins sweepstakes, according to a new report Thursday.

ESPN’s Dianna Russini reported the Patriots are among the teams interested in the free agent wide receiver, who is free to sign with any NFL club after being cut by the Arizona Cardinals last week. Hopkins plans to visit with interested teams, per Russini’s report, so no decision is imminent.

“There are several teams, including the New England Patriots, that are interested in DeAndre Hopkins,” Russini said on “Get Up.” “We’re going to see over the next few weeks Hopkins taking visits with different teams, and then he’s going to make a decision.”

Russini also listed the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills as potential landing spots for Hopkins. The Chiefs and Bills were the only teams to engage Arizona in trade talks before Hopkins’ release, according to a report from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. Both are Super Bowl contenders with All-Pro quarterbacks, making them desirable destinations for free agent wideouts.

The Patriots can’t offer the same path to a championship and don’t boast a superstar QB, but they do have significantly more available salary cap space than Kansas City or Buffalo — around $14.1 million as of Thursday, per OverTheCap. The Chiefs and Bills both have less than $1.5 million, meaning they’d need to do some financial finagling in order to sign a player like Hopkins.

New England also could free up additional cap space by trading or releasing DeVante Parker ($6.2 million in savings) or Kendrick Bourne ($5.5 million), one of whom likely would be pushed out if Hopkins came aboard.

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Hopkins was set to earn $19.45 million in salary from the Cardinals this season. Breer speculated earlier this week that his next contract will be worth around half that. Russini, however, reported the five-time Pro Bowler “wants to get paid the type of money that we saw Odell Beckham Jr. get paid.” Beckham got $15 million from the Baltimore Ravens despite not playing last season.

“Not that same exact amount, but money’s definitely a part of this,” Russini said. “And when you’re looking at all the teams around the league that are interested in DeAndre Hopkins, it’s got to work financially for them.”

The Athletic’s Tim Graham on Thursday reported the Bills were a “long shot” to land Hopkins, who caught 64 passes for 717 yards and three touchdowns in nine games after returning from a six-game PED suspension.

Hopkins would fill a need for the Patriots, who have lacked elite receiver talent for the past several seasons. Head coach Bill Belichick is a massive Hopkins fan, and New England meets the next-team criteria Hopkins outlined before his Cardinals release. During an appearance on the “I AM ATHLETE” podcast, the soon-to-be 31-year-old said wants to join a team with stable management, a QB who loves football and a great defense.

“I don’t need a great QB,” he said. “I’ve done it with subpar QBs. Just a QB who loves the game like I do.”