NFL Insider on Patriots DeAndre Hopkins Trade: Never Say Never

Most experts consider New England acquiring three-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins a longshot.

Yank the reins away from Matt Patricia.

Hire Bill O'Brien to repair the offense.

Make sure Tom Brady didn't want come back to Foxboro.

And now, in the New England Patriots' quest to upgrade their woeful offense, find a play-making receiver. Might that guy still be ... DeAndre Hopkins?

As we've written before, the move makes sense on several levels:

*Patriots coach Bill Belichick loves him some Hopkins.

*Hopkins, being shopped this offseason by the Arizona Cardinals, has a relationship with O'Brien from their time together with the Houston Texans 2014-19.

*New England is desperate for a true No. 1 receiver, as this season they didn't have one that topped 70 catches or 850 yards.

*Quarterback Mac Jones' favorite target - Jakobi Meyers - will become an unrestricted free agent next month.

There are reasons the Pats should make it work. But can they make it work?

Some NFL analysts are trying to connect the dots for the 30-year-old with three All-Pro teams and six 1,000-yard seasons on his resume to wind up at Gillette Stadium. Most however, including The Athletic, still consider the transaction as unlikely.

"Never say never, but it would be viewed as a pretty major surprise if the Patriots traded for Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins," NFL insider Jeff Howe wrote Friday. "Hopkins fell out of favor with new Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien before O’Brien traded him out of Houston in 2020. A possible reunion? Maybe, but consider it a longshot."

The Pats traded for DeVante Parker last year, but he only produced 31 catches and three touchdowns - two of them in the Week 18 season-ending loss. They could use their first-round pick (14th overall) to draft a receiver. But the free-agent market is considered weak, as only three receivers - Meyers, JuJu Smith-Schuster and D.J. Clark - made ESPN's recent list of the Top 50 available players.

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