NFL Trade Rumors
After starting the year with the Titans, the Chiefs acquired WR DeAndre Hopkins in a trade on October 23rd for a conditional fifth-round pick.
In his final game with Tennessee, Hopkins wasn’t on the field in the fourth quarter which led many to believe he was either hurt or benched. Hopkins revealed he didn’t feel like he belonged in the game because they were getting beat badly and he wasn’t included in the offense hardly at all.
“You know I’m not the type to go on social media and speak my truth or speak what happened, because I feel like everything always kind of passes,” Hopkins said, via Nick Suss of The Tennessean. “I didn’t get benched. But that was the first time in my career where I was like, ‘Man, I don’t belong out here on this field right now.’ We weren’t winning. No plays were being called for me. Not that I’m a player that ever needs the ball, but on the field, I want to be included in something.”
Hopkins said he took himself out of the game and talked about losing his joy for the game being in a tough situation like Tennessee. He spoke with then-GM Ran Carthon after the game about his frustrations which culminated in a trade just days later.
“And so I took myself out of the game, and I saw a lot of things in the media saying I got benched. I let it go, but the next day I went to Ran’s office. I was like, ‘Man, I’m almost losing love for this game being in this situation.’ I could talk to Ran like that, because he understands me. He said, ‘Man, I see it in your eyes. I see it that this isn’t a place where you might want to be.’ We had that tough conversation, and the next day I got traded to the Chiefs.”
Hopkins, 32, is a former first-round pick of the Texans back in 2013. Houston later traded Hopkins to the Cardinals ahead of the 2020 season in return for David Johnson and draft picks.
Hopkins was in the third year of his five-year, $81 million extension that included $49 million guaranteed when he agreed to a two-year, $54.5 million extension with the Cardinals.
He was owed base salaries of $19,450,000 and $14,915,000 over the final two years of the agreement when the Cardinals opted to release him. Hopkins eventually signed a two-year, $26 million contract with the Titans. Tennesse ended up trading him to the Chiefs in October of the 2024 season.
In 2024, Hopkins appeared in 16 games for the Titans and Chiefs and caught 56 passes for 610 yards receiving and five touchdowns.
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