Even at 6-0, the Kansas City Chiefs decided to follow some of their AFC competition’s lead in becoming the latest team to make a splashy deal for a wide receiver ahead of the NFL trade deadline.
On Wednesday, the Chiefs agreed to acquire five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins from the Tennessee Titans. The move comes just one week after the New York Jets secured Davante Adams and the Buffalo Bills landed Amari Cooper to boost their flagging passing attacks.
Hopkins has recorded just 15 catches for 173 yards and one touchdown, but he has been limited by a knee injury suffered in preseason and struggling Titans aerial attack. In Kansas City, he’ll be expected to help elevate an offense that posted just 145 passing yards in Sunday’s win over the San Francisco 49ers amid mounting injuries to the receiving corps.
Here are the winners and losers from the trade as well as our grades for both teams.
Winners
Patrick Mahomes
The two-time MVP was unflinching in the face of mounting injuries to his receiving corps, expressing faith last week in the diminished crew still at his disposal. Yet this move represents perhaps the most meaningful infusion of talent that was within reach for Kansas City – at least once Cooper was dealt. Scraping by with rookie speedster Xavier Worthy and veteran Justin Watson wasn’t a viable option, especially once JuJu Smith-Schuster went down with a hamstring injury that already has him out for Week 8. Mahomes might take some time to develop a rapport with Hopkins, but equipping the quarterback with a physical target who thrives in the short area gives him many of the easy throws that were shut off once Rice was lost. And for a passer who now is tied for the NFL lead with eight interceptions, he shouldn’t have to press quite as often.
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Travis Kelce
The blanket coverage that has followed him throughout the season isn’t going anywhere. But in light of his 17-yard outing against the 49ers, his second-lowest output of the season, it was clear that a change to the supporting cast was due. Mahomes will still have an eye out for his nine-time Pro Bowl tight end. But the quality of looks for Kelce should at least minorly improve.
DeAndre Hopkins
Call this a reward for his patience. Hopkins didn’t make a bunch of noise on his way out, and now the 32-year-old is bound to be a primary option for the NFL’s only undefeated team and its most dynamic quarterback. That’s a win merely in the scope of this season. But with his contract set to expire in the spring, Hopkins also is set up to showcase his skill set in a far more favorable setting than the one weighing him down in Tennessee.
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Losers
Will Levis and Mason Rudolph
Simply put, this deal doesn’t happen if Levis had given the Titans any reason to believe that he’s a worthwhile long-term investment at quarterback, or even a tenable one. But with the volatile passer unable to dial back his devil-may-care style, a Tennessee team that had been intent to be competitive this season instead pivoted, taking away one of its top receiving options to instead boost its draft capital. Hard to see that as anything other than an indication this team is already embracing a change behind center for 2025. With Levis still dealing with a shoulder injury that sidelined him in Week 7, the move also hurts Rudolph, who didn’t provide much of a spark as a fill-in starter against the Buffalo Bills.
Wide receivers on the trade block
When you’re mired in a poor offense on a sinking team, who wouldn’t dream of being shipped off to join Mahomes and the two-time champs? While this doesn’t necessarily preclude Kansas City from making another move, it’s enough of a splash to indicate that the team is set at receiver. Too bad for Cooper Kupp, Diontae Johnson, Darius Slayton, Christian Kirk and any other pass catchers.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
He had an impressive revitalization after Rice went down, recording seven catches for 130 yards against the New Orleans Saints. But did the hamstring injury he suffered at least in part open the door for this deal? While his connection with Mahomes will allow him to remain in the picture, it seems clear that Hopkins’ arrival cuts significantly into the role Smith-Schuster was trying to carve out.
AFC contenders
Everyone else in the field has at least two losses already. Ahead of matchups with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs have now shored up their weakest spot. The climb to knock Kansas City from its perch – and prevent another AFC championship game at Arrowhead Stadium – is only growing more imposing.
DeAndre Hopkins trade grades
Chiefs: A-
This seemed like the deal that made too much sense to actually happen. And for a while, it appeared it wouldn’t, with buzz that the Titans weren’t eager to move on from their No. 2 target and Hopkins not broadcasting any discontent with his standing. Still, general manager Brett Veach found a way to swing a deal for a pass catcher for the third consecutive year ahead of the trade deadline.
Here’s to betting that Hopkins’ impact could be greater than that of Kadarius Toney and Mecole Hardman, however. Try as the Chiefs might to forge ahead, it was clear that an additional weapon was required after Rashee Rice’s season-ending knee injury, which compounded the problems for a receiving corps that is already without Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown (shoulder) until at least the playoffs. Hopkins doesn’t need to rediscover his electric early-career form for this to work out. If he can simply continue to overpower defensive backs at the catch point and feast on a high volume of targets on underneath and intermediate routes, he can help the Chiefs’ revised offensive mission of being highly functional rather than explosive.
Titans: B
General manager Ran Carthon deserves some credit for seeing the bigger picture and not simply barreling ahead with Hopkins. While it stood to reason that a receiver who makes his mark on contested catches would be a fine complement to Calvin Ridley, who wins on separation, and a major asset to an unsteady second-year signal-caller in Levis, things obviously haven’t panned out for the 1-5 Titans. With Tennessee already down a third-round pick in 2025 thanks to the L’Jarius Sneed trade – which so far has yielded ugly results – it was time to scrounge up more draft assets for a team due for another offseason reboot in its offensive personnel.
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