There has been surprisingly little movement with DeAndre Hopkins in his search for a team since the Cardinals released him in May. At that time, it was mostly top AFC contenders at the top of the odds to be Hopkins’ next team, but now a different AFC squad has taken a massive leap up the board: The Tennessee Titans.
DeAndre Hopkins is now -300 to go to the Tennessee Titans at DraftKings 👀
He was +500 yesterday.
— Connor Allen (@ConnorAllenNFL) July 12, 2023
There has not been any accompanying news movement to go along with this line swing, but DraftKings seems pretty confident in who leads the race for Hopkins.
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DeAndre Hopkins Next Team Odds: Titans Take Dramatic Lead
Take a look at the odds on DraftKings for DeAndre Hopkins’ next team as of July 12:
Back in May, the Chiefs, Bills, Ravens and Jets were the frontrunners in the crapshoot that was predicting Hopkins’ next team. But now the Titans in the span of 24 hours have gone from +500 to land him to -300, aka pretty substantial favorites. It is a fascinating swing since the Titans, while not in a state of flux per se, are hovering around the middle of the NFL in terms of expectations and could easily head to a rebuild if they so choose. Their wins over/under is 7.5 on DraftKings, and they are +400 to win the AFC South, well behind the Jaguars (-165).
As far as who will be throwing to Hopkins should he join the Titans, that is not exactly clear either. Ryan Tannehill is still the No. 1 quarterback on the depth chart and will likely start the season since the current QB2 is Malik Willis, who looked completely out of his element in his rookie season. Things went so bad in Willis’ limited time on the field last year that Tennessee drafted Will Levis in Round 2. Now, given that Levis pre-draft was a presumed first-round quarterback who plummeted into the second round, he is likely the quarterback of the future. In the meantime, however, it is tough to imagine the 31-year-old Hopkins choosing the Titans if anyone other than Tannehill is expected to start the majority of the season.
A week ago, Hopkins stated that he is nowhere near retiring and feels like he could play into his late 30s — in which case joining up with a Levis-led Titans squad may not be so outrageous.
Update: DeAndre Hopkins says he’ll retire from football once he’s “Not a 1,000 yard receiver”
“I’ll retire from football when I’m not a 1k-yard receiver. With that said, I was on pace for 1,400 yards last year—one significant injury in 11 years. I might be playing till I’m 37… pic.twitter.com/jWyX1mA5cr
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 6, 2023
But the Titans are not exactly on the upswing in the here and now, so their sudden leap into favorites to sign Hopkins is a surprising one.
Of course, just a couple of years ago Tennessee made the splashy signing of Julio Jones, who was 32 at the time. However, that did not amount to much, as Jones caught only 31 passes for 434 yards in 10 games. Also, that Titans team was the clear favorite in the AFC South. These Titans are a step behind the Jaguars in terms of projections, and Hopkins believes he has a lot more in the tank. Time will tell if any of this comes to fruition — DraftKings apparently knows something no one else does at this point in time.
