KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — DeAndre Hopkins was at a fishing event in Miami with Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones a couple of years ago, and the buddies talked about how the three-time All-Pro wide receiver could fit in the Kansas City offense.
It didn’t work out at the time, and Hopkins wound up signing with Tennessee as a free agent.
It finally worked out this week.
The Chiefs announced their trade for Hopkins on Thursday, sending the Titans a conditional fifth-round draft pick for a veteran pass catcher they hope can help them overcome a devastating rash of injuries to their wide receiver corps.
“Obviously throughout my career I’ve been a big fan of what Andy (Reid) has done. Going against those guys in Houston, they gave us some tough battles,” said Hopkins, who will wear No. 8 in Kansas City as an homage to Lakers great Kobe Bryant.
“Chris Jones is one of my buddies off the field. Him and I talked about that potential if I were a free agent or ever got traded.”
The Chiefs made space for Hopkins by placing Skyy Moore on injured reserve Thursday with a “core muscle injury,” even though the wide receiver did not appear on the injury report the previous day for Sunday’s matchup at Las Vegas.
Kansas City had become desperate for wide receiver help after Marquise Brown had shoulder surgery before the season, Rashee Rice underwent season-ending knee surgery and JuJu Smith-Schuster hurt his hamstring in last week’s win over the 49ers.
The Chiefs believe Hopkins can absorb enough of the playbook to be active for the game against the Raiders.
“You start kind of from the bottom, the snap-count part of it,” Reid said, “and you work your way up through. He’s seen enough. He’s been around it long enough, to where it’s more the dialect than the language that he has to learn.”
The Titans will get a fifth-round pick in the 2025 draft for Hopkins, who has been managing a knee injury much of the season. It could become a fourth-rounder if he plays 60% of snaps with the Chiefs and they make the Super Bowl.
Tennessee also agreed to pay $2.5 million of his remaining salary, an important point for the salary cap-strapped Chiefs.
“Me and him conversed about this like, two years ago,” Jones said Thursday. “We both agreed he would be super successful in the offense. Just at the time there was a lot of things going on and unfortunately we weren’t able to acquire him at the time. But you know how life works. It’s a full circle. And unfortunately with injuries we needed a wide receiver.”
Hopkins is the third high-profile wide receiver to be traded in just over a week.
Davante Adams was the first to move, going from the Raiders to the Jets for a conditional third-round draft pick next year. Hours later, the Bills acquired Amari Cooper and a sixth-round pick next year from the Browns for a third-round pick along with a seventh-rounder in 2026.
The 32-year-old Hopkins had only 15 catches for 173 yards and a touchdown in his second season in Tennessee. But he gives the Chiefs a proven star — 943 catches for 12,528 yards and 79 TDs in a career spent mostly in Arizona and Houston — along with an accomplished red-zone target for a team that has struggled to score touchdowns inside the opposing 20-yard line.
It’s the third straight season the Chiefs have traded for a wide receiver, acquiring Kadarius Toney from the Giants two years ago and Mecole Hardman from the Jets last season. The Chiefs believe the lessons they learned from their on-boarding processes will help them to quickly assimilate Hopkins into the team.
“It’s exciting for everybody,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. “You get a guy that is super experienced. He’s been in this league for a long time. He’s had a lot of success. You look at both situations and I feel like it’s a win-win type of deal.”
Indeed, Hopkins said the one thing missing from his resume is a Super Bowl, and he will have an opportunity to rectify that in Kansas City. The Chiefs, at 6-0 the last unbeaten team in the NFL, are going for a record third straight Lombardi Trophy.
“I haven’t played meaningful football in a couple of years,” Hopkins said. “I think I’ve done all the accolades I could accomplish as far as personal, so playing meaningful football in January is what’s left on the list.”
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