Chiefs complete trade with Titans receiver DeAndre Hopkins

The Kansas City Chiefs have traded for Tennessee Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, According to multiple reports.

Hopkins, 32, will help bolster a receiving corps that lost Rushie Rice, Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster to injuries.

The Chiefs are sending a fifth-round draft pick that could become a fourth-round pick if Kansas City reaches the Super Bowl and Hopkins plays 60% 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 prominent receiver to be traded in the past 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 have also reportedly begun trade discussions with former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp.

The two-time Super Bowl champion Chiefs have the best record in the NFL at 6-0, but have been in the market for a receiver to help 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 rest of the season after undergoing surgery two weeks ago to repair the posterolateral angle of his right knee. He was injured during a 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 declared out for the Chiefs’ Week 8 game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

It’s the third straight season the Chiefs have made an in-season trade for a wide receiver. During 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 comeback in the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win over the Philadelphia Eagles in February of 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 this offseason. Hardman caught the game-winning pass in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII and re-signed with the Chiefs this offseason.