Best Landing Spots for DeAndre Hopkins

DeAndre Hopkins remains on the free agent market and doesn’t appear to be in a rush to find a new home. He’ll have his pick of landing spots and has been vocal in expressing potential options. He’s said he’d like to play with top-level quarterbacks, including Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Jalen Hurts. Who wouldn’t?

Hopkins has stated he’d like a contract similar to Odell Beckham Jr.’s one-year, $15 million guaranteed deal, so here’s who we rank as the top landing spots for his services.

This has been the mainstream option, and it makes sense. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and DeAndre Hopkins, enough said. Mahomes doesn’t need elite receivers to be successful, but when someone like Hopkins is available and Kadarius Toney is your current WR1, why wouldn’t you strongly consider that move? If it weren’t for Mahomes, a WR core of Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Skyy Moore would be laughed at, so adding Hopkins as WR1 makes sense. 

Hopkins is a three-time first-team All-Pro receiver who could find himself in the Hall of Fame. Those three seasons all came with Deshaun Watson as his quarterback. A reunion in Cleveland has been speculated for the tandem, should the Browns and Hopkins want it. To start, the Browns won’t be Hopkins’s first choice. However, if Hopkins cannot work out a scenario where Mahomes is slinging him the ball, stability and a previous relationship with Watson are enticing. After an underwhelming 2022 season, getting Watson as much help as possible is necessary, given the Browns’ investment in him. A duo of Hopkins and Amari Cooper would immediately vault the Browns into playoff contention.

The Eagles don’t need Hopkins. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith are arguably the best WR duo in the league, but the cupboard is bare after them. Quez Watkins and Olamide Zaccheaus are playable options as WR3, but having them step up as WR2 wouldn’t be great. Expect Howie Roseman to bring in additional depth, and someone like Hopkins can’t be out of the question with the Eagles’ Super Bowl expectations. We already know Hopkins would like to play with Hurts, and Roseman could maneuver the cap if he wants to come.

With the Bills’ acquisition of Leonard Floyd on a one-year, $9 million deal, acquiring Hopkins might be out of the question. Still, Bills GM Brandon Beane reportedly talked with Hopkins already. This could be a viable landing spot with Hopkins expressing interest in playing with Allen. The Bills have fallen short of their expectations, and even if they cannot acquire Hopkins, seeing him potentially go to Kansas City would be a gut punch. Signing him out of desperation so he can’t play with Mahomes is almost as good as making him a Bill, but that could be a moot point with Floyd’s arrival.