The Chiefs moved one step closer to winning their third consecutive Lombardi Trophy on Wednesday.
Early in the day, NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that Kansas City had agreed to trade with the Tennessee Titans to send wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Chiefs.
Hopkins was widely expected to be available in trade discussions after Tennessee’s rough 1-5 start.
As Schefter noted, he gets a significant boost in quarterback play, going the Titans’ scrapheap of Will Levis and Mason Rudolph to the rarefied air of catching passes from two-time league MVP Patrick Mahomes.
But the move is most significant to the Chiefs, who finally have a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver for Mahomes to throw to.
This season, Hopkins is averaging a career-low 28.8 yards per game, with 15 receptions for 173 yards and a touchdown in the Titans’ first six games. But, he’s one year removed from his seventh career 1,000-yard season, posting 75 receptions, 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023 with the Titans.
It didn’t take much to land him either, with Schefter reporting Kansas City only sent a conditional fourth-round pick to Tennessee to complete the transaction.
The five-time Pro Bowler has been recovering from a preseason knee injury and missed the final portion of Week 7’s 34-10 loss to the Bills with what Titans head coach Brian Callahan described as “lower leg soreness.”
At 6-0, the Chiefs don’t need to rush Hopkins into their starting lineup. When he’s ready, Hopkins could make Kansas City unstoppable.
With Mahomes at quarterback and the defense ranked fifth in scoring (17.2 points allowed per game), the Chiefs were already arguably the league’s best team.
But Hopkins and tight end Travis Kelce give Kansas City two excellent targets who command defensive attention.
The rest of the NFL will wake up on Wednesday with worse odds of winning the Super Bowl than they had going to bed Tuesday night.
By adding Hopkins, Kansas City just got better.
