Another week, another new face for the Kansas City Chiefs offense. Struck by injuries to key playmakers like Rashee Rice, Marquise Brown and Isiah Pacheco, the reigning Super Bowl champions welcomed a new No. 1 wide receiver for Patrick Mahomes on Wednesday, finalizing a trade with the Tennessee Titans for five-time Pro Bowler DeAndre Hopkins, as CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones reported.
The Chiefs officially welcomed their newest star to Kansas City Thursday, when head coach Andy Reid also teased Hopkins' availability for Sunday's Week 8 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders: "Why wait, right?"
The 32-year-old Hopkins joins Kansas City in exchange for a conditional fifth-round draft pick, which can become a fourth-rounder if the Chiefs reach the Super Bowl and Hopkins plays 60% of the team's offensive snaps. The Titans will pay $2.5 million of Hopkins' remaining salary, per NFL.com.
ESPN recently reported that Tennessee was not proactively shopping Hopkins, and the veteran indicated he was content to remain with the Titans despite the team's poor start to the 2024 season. Countless NFL trades come to fruition regardless of what players or teams say publicly, however, and the Chiefs had an apparent need for wide receiver help, already down two of their top players at the position.
In addition to Brown and Rice, the Chiefs also saw reserve JuJu Smith-Schuster, who reunited with the team earlier this season, leave the lineup Sunday with an aggravated hamstring injury. That left rookie Xavier Worthy to headline the pass-catching corps alongside backups Justin Watson and Skyy Moore.
Hopkins has battled injuries of his own, including an MCL issue this year, but has remained a productive possession target when on the field. The former Houston Texans star eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards as the Titans' top receiver in 2023, and previously logged six 1,000-yard campaigns between the Texans and Arizona Cardinals.
