Chiefs acquire DeAndre Hopkins weeks before trade deadline

After season-ending injuries to their top two wide receivers, the Chiefs have restocked
Tennessee Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) heads to the field before a game against the Green Bay Packers at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024.
Tennessee Titans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) heads to the field before a game against the Green Bay Packers at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The Tennessee Titans are trading All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Kansas City Chiefs for a conditional fifth-round pick, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

The defending back-to-back Super Bowl champions have been ravaged by injuries to starting wide receivers Marquise "Hollywood" Brown and Rashee Rice, as well as running back Isiah Pacheco. Now, the Chiefs are getting a four-year All-Pro on a rental.

Tennessee is heading nowhere fast with Will Levis and Mason Rudolph as their quarterbacks, joining the Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns as the only one-win teams in the NFL.

Since the Titans are clearly rebuilding with a first-year head coach and in the mix for the first overall pick in April's draft, they are moving on from Hopkins, who was set to be an unrestricted free agent in March.

Hopkins will only carry an $8 million cap hit for the Chiefs, according to Spotrac. The Chiefs hope to have Hopkins, Brown, Pacheco, Pro Bowl running back Kareem Hunt and All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce healthy in January as they aim to become the first team to ever win three consecutive Super Bowls.

Three-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes is having the worst start to a season in his career, throwing for just eight touchdowns compared to 10 interceptions this season. Still, the Chiefs are somehow undefeated.

With Hopkins, Kansas City hopes to improve its passing offense, which ranks 12th in the NFL right now. The worst Kansas City has ever finished in passing offense with Mahomes under center was sixth.

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