


The DeAndre Hopkins free-agency tour is headed to the Northeast.
The star wideout is scheduled to visit the New England Patriots next week after being released by the Arizona Cardinals, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported Friday.
The free-agent receiver will also be visiting the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, so Patriots fans may need to cross their fingers that they even get Hopkins in the facility.
Arguably one of the biggest free agents available outside of running back Dalvin Cook who was recently released by the Minnesota Vikings, Hopkins should be considered a can’t-miss-player — though, he does come with some red flags.
A bonafide No. 1 wideout, he had 1,407 receiving yards for six touchdowns and was an All-Pro selection in 2020, his last full season with the Cardinals.
In 2021, Hopkins was limited to 10 games and recorded 572 yards and eight touchdowns due to multiple injuries, including a season-ending MCL tear that required surgery.
The following year, the receiver was suspended six games due to PED use and finished the season with 717 yards and three touchdowns.
Add in the fact that the receiver just turned 31, and the decrease in production has the potential to become the new normal rather than just a slump.
The Patriots can’t exactly be picky when it comes to receivers, though.
Their current No. 1 wideout, Jakobi Meyers, recorded 804 receiving yards for eight touchdowns — not exactly game-breaking numbers, especially considering other receivers like the Bills’ Stefon Diggs and the Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill are in the same division.
Assuming health, Hopkins immediately would take that mantle of the top pass-catcher for the Patriots and gives third-year quarterback Mac Jones a veteran he can depend on — that is, if Hopkins can overcome a rocky relationship with his former coach.
Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien was the man who traded Hopkins to the Cardinals as the then-head coach of the Houston Texans.
If the two can move beyond their past, Hopkins in New England could potentially be something special.
Further, with the addition of newly minted Super Bowl champion JuJu Smith-Schuster, potentially bringing in Hopkins immediately makes the team much more formidable offensively.
And with a top-10 defense a year ago, such an improvement on offense makes one question whether this team can make a legitimate challenge to Buffalo in the AFC East.