MARCH 14: Hopkins’ pact – which is now official – includes a $1.26MM base salary which is fully guaranteed, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network notes. The deal includes a $3.75MM signing bonus, while its incentives are based on playing time and performance thresholds. With void years being included, Hopkins will carry a 2025 cap hit of roughly $2MM.
MARCH 11: The Ravens are signing veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.
Hopkins’ deal in Baltimore has a base value of $5MM with another $1MM available via incentives, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. He will join former Titans teammate Derrick Henry and catch passes from two-time MVP Lamar Jackson in 2025.
The five-time Pro Bowler started the 2024 season in Tennessee before being traded to the Chiefs for a fifth-round pick that could be upgraded to a fourth-rounder, though details of the conditions have not been publicly reported. Hopkins recorded just 15 receptions for 173 yards and a touchdown in six games with the Titans last year, but fared much better in Kansas City. He posted 41 catches for 437 yards and four touchdowns in 10 regular-season games as a Chief, though he only caught three of his eight targets in the playoffs.
The Ravens have been linked with Hopkins multiple times over the last few years, but they were never willing to part with the trade or financial compensation to acquire him. His $5MM APY is a significant discount on his previous contracts, the lowest and most recent of which was a two-year, $26MM deal signed with the Titans in 2023.
Hopkins was originally a first-round pick by the Texans in 2013 who followed up a solid rookie year with a breakout season in 2014. He earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2015 before a down year in 2016 with Brock Osweiler under center in Houston. The Texans then signed him to a five-year, $81MM extension in 2017, at which point Hopkins began to take off. He averaged 105 catches, 1,372 yards, and 10 touchdowns over the next three seasons and earned first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in each year.
The Texans then surprised the league by trading Hopkins to the Cardinals in 2020, packaging him with a fourth-rounder to receive running back David Johnson and second- and fourth-round picks in return. Hopkins then signed a two-year, $54MM extension with the Cardinals.
Houston was widely criticized for the trade, especially after Hopkins’ debut year in Arizona ended with 115 catches for 1,400 yards and six touchdowns. That earned Hopkins his fourth-straight Pro Bowl appearance, but injuries plagued him over the next two years. After playing in at least 15 games in his first eight seasons, he appeared in just 19 across 2021 and 2022 with a commensurate decrease in production. Hopkins was released after the 2022 season and signed with the Titans, where he put up another 1,000-yard season despite inconsistent quarterback play from Will Levis and Ryan Tannehill.
Another downtick in production in 2024 showed that the 32-year-old Hopkins was no longer the dominant wideout he once was, but he won’t be asked to shoulder a heavy burden in Baltimore. The Ravens already have Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman at wide receiver and Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely at tight end, not to mention one of the best rushing attacks in league history with Jackson and Henry as the primary ballcarriers. Instead, Hopkins will play a tertiary role in the Ravens’ passing game, which has lacked a contested-catch specialist in the receiver room for most of Jackson’s tenure.
