Chiefs trade Titans for DeAndre Hopkins, per source: Why it makes sense for Kansas City

By Diana Russini, Nate Taylor and Joe Rexrode

The Kansas City Chiefs have acquired wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins from the Tennessee Titans, a league source said Wednesday, in a move intended to bolster the defending Super Bowl champions' injury-plagued receiving corps with the five-time Pro Bowler.

Tennessee will receive a conditional draft pick — a fifth-rounder who could go fourth — in the deal.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Hopkins was on his way to Kansas City. He is expected to be ready to play Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, according to league sources.

The Chiefs, who were aiming to become the first three-peat champions in NFL history, are off to a 6-0 start and are the last undefeated team in the league. But a struggling passing attack led by two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes could use help at wide receiver. Mahomes is averaging a career-low 231.5 passing yards per game and six touchdowns to eight interceptions. Injuries sidelined their top three wide receivers – Rashee Rice, Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster. In Sunday's 28-18 win over the San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City's wide receivers combined for just five receptions on 12 targets.

The Chiefs have also discussed star receiver Cooper Kupp with the Los Angeles Rams, team sources said, but Kansas City would have to trade with a team willing to take on a large portion of the player's salary and not a high pick. . Tennessee was a team willing to play ball. Hopkins, 32, is in the final season of a two-year, $26 million contract.

Hopkins could bolster Kansas City's wide receiving corps and at the same time reverse his slow start to the season. He has just 15 receptions for 173 yards and one touchdown in six games. After suffering a knee sprain in the preseason, Hopkins limited his snap count early in the season. He's played less than half of the Titans' offensive snaps in their first four games, but those numbers have increased to 71 percent and 60 percent in the past two weeks. Still, as Tennessee's offense sputtered, he caught one pass for minus-2 yards in Sunday's 34-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Titans, at 1-5, have just a 1 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to athleticIts Austin Mock.

Hopkins has seven 1,000-yard seasons in his 12-year NFL career, including four in a row from 2017 to 2020.

What Hopkins brings to the Chiefs

The Chiefs had to make the move, which will create more margin for error for their offense ahead of the postseason.

The Chiefs don't need a superstar receiver. Mahomes has proven he can win championships without one. But Mahomes needs another motivated, effective and reliable receiver to help sustain the Chiefs offense. Hopkins could be that receiver based on his route-running ability and success generating yards after the catch.

Without Hopkins, the Chiefs enter this week's game against the Las Vegas Raiders with a group of receivers — Justin Watson, Mecole Hardman, Skye Moore and rookie Xavier Worthy — who have combined for 27 receptions for 343 yards and two touchdowns. – Nate Taylor, lead author

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DeAndre Hopkins Trade Grade: Chiefs Get Patrick Mahomes His Desperately Needed Help

The Titans are embracing the rebuild after a big-spending offseason

Titans general manager Run Carthon acted in the offseason like a man who believed he could put together a competitive team in 2024, signing Calvin Ridley to a long-term deal to pair with Hopkins, trading for cornerback L'Jarius Snead, signing center Lloyd. Cushenberry and running back Tony Pollard to help on offense and adding cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, linebacker Kenneth Murray and linebacker Ernest Jones IV to help on defense.

Well, the Titans have the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft and the selling has begun.

Much of that can be explained by the struggles of second-year quarterback Will Levis. But that's not all. The Titans are goalless and 7-21 since firing GM John Robinson midway through the 2022 season. – Joe Rexrode, senior writer

Hopkins bucked the Titans' history of overwhelming veteran receivers

Randy Moss, Andre Johnson and Julio Jones are three all-time great receivers who were past their prime when they arrived in Nashville, so the Titans were skeptical when they went where no one else would with Hopkins — two years, $26 million — in the 2023 offseason. But Hopkins made history in a scrappy offense last season with 75 catches for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns. He immediately had strong chemistry with Levis.

A knee injury cost Hopkins much of camp and the Titans took it easy on him this season, but I was surprised to see no semblance of that chemistry with Levis once Hopkins was healthy enough to play a full game. – Rexroad

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(Photo: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)