Ever since Rashee Rice went down with a season-ending knee injury, just four weeks into the season, the Kansas City Chiefs have been linked to trade rumors involving receivers like DeAndre Hopkins. Plus, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid already lost one other key member of their offense when Hollywood Brown was lost for the season due to a shoulder injury.

While the Chiefs have since added JuJu Smith-Schuster, now there’s a much more accomplished receiver on his way to Kansas City.

Kansas City Chiefs send conditional pick to Titans for DeAndre Hopkins

The Kansas City Chiefs pulled off a huge blockbuster trade on Wednesday morning, acquiring DeAndre Hopkins in exchange for a fifth-round pick that can upgrade to a fourth-round pick. It’s not yet known what the conditions are for the Titans to get a fourth-rounder instead of the fifth, but these transactions are typically tied to either production, snaps played, and/or playoff success.

The Chiefs and Titans are still working out the details of the DeAndre Hopkins trade. Not fully done yet. Likely will have a condition tied to playing time and KC winning the Super Bowl again to take the pick from a 5th to a 4th, with Tennessee picking up about half his salary.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) October 23, 2024

For the Titans, it gets them a bit more draft capital in a season that’s essentially lost. Now they can focus on retooling through the 2025 NFL Draft while parting with a player who was set for free agency at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs have a new target for Patrick Mahomes, and he’s a three-time All-Pro who has seven 1,000-yard seasons to his name. That includes last year when he hauled in 75 catches for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns.

• DeAndre Hopkins stats (2024): 15 receptions, 173 yards, 1 TD

As Dianna Russini noted, the Chiefs did discuss trades for Cooper Kupp too, but Kansas City’s preference to deal with a team willing to eat most of the salary without giving up valuable draft compensation was key to getting the Hopkins transaction done.

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