By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
With wide receiver injuries plaguing the Chiefs all season long, General Manager Brett Veach has gone out and gotten a new weapon for superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans are finalizing a deal to send wide receiver Deandre Hopkins to the defending super bowl champions. In return The Titans will receive a 2025 fifth-round pick that would become a fourth-rounder if the Chiefs reach the Super Bowl and Hopkins plays 60% of the snaps with Kansas City, sources said. Tennessee also will pick up a portion of Hopkins’ remaining $8 million salary this season.
Sources also said the deal is expected to be finalized on Wednesday.
The Chiefs have had a need at wide receiver. Rashee Rice suffered a right knee injury in Week 4 that required season-ending surgery, the team lost Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to a shoulder injury in the preseason, and just last week JuJu Smith-Schuster suffered a hamstring injury that has already ruled him out for Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Hopkins, a 12 year veteran, is in the final year of a two year deal he signed with the Titans. Hopkins suffered an MCL tear during the offseason, but recovered in time for the season opener, and has 15 catches for 173 yards and a touchdown this year.
The addition gives Mahomes another weapon, one week after Mahomes said he had extreme confidence in the Chiefs receiving corps when asked about wide receiver trades that happened last week, including Davante Adams to the Jets and Amari Cooper to the Bills.
However, what the top healthy receivers have shown this year has not been a lot, Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson have combined for just 22 catches through week seven.
Acquiring a wide receiver before the trade deadline has yielded results for the Chiefs in each of the past two seasons. They dealt with the New York Giants for Kadarius Toney in 2022. Toney scored one touchdown and set up another with a 65-yard punt return in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVII win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Chiefs also traded with the New York Jets for Mecole Hardman last year. Hardman caught the winning touchdown in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.
