Titans QB Named Biggest Loser of DeAndre Hopkins Trade

Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis is one of the biggest losers from the DeAndre Hopkins trade.

Sep 30, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis (8) throws the football against the Miami Dolphins during the first quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Tennessee Titans made a massive move on Wednesday morning, trading star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a move that had been speculated about for weeks leading up to it actually coming to fruition.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest losers from the trade is second-year quarterback Will Levis.

Justin Melo of Titan Sized named Levis a top loser from the trade. Amid what has been a rough season for Levis, this trade will make things even more difficult for the young quarterback to turn his season around.

Melo even went as far as to suggest that the trade could signal the Titans' interest in replacing Levis during the NFL offseason.

"The Titans entered the 2024 campaign wanting to find out whether or not Levis is a franchise quarterback. The answer, to date, has been a resounding no. Trading away Hopkins, his favorite pass catcher, indicates the Titans are preparing to replace the struggling sophomore in the offseason." Melo wrote.

Hopkins had put up lower production than normal through the first six games of the 2024 NFL season. He will end his last season with Tennessee having caught 15 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown.

Clearly, those numbers were well down from his 2023 season with the Titans where he caught 75 passes for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns.

Granted, this trade doesn't mean that Tennessee is done with Levis. Hopkins is 32 years old and is set to hit free agency in the offseason. He simply didn't fit the long-term plans for the franchise.

Moving on from him to get value to continue building the roster was a smart move. They would have risked losing him for nothing in the offseason.

What this move does show is that the Titans were not planning to re-sign Hopkins. It clearly shows that they did not view him as a long-term piece of the puzzle to get themselves back to being a contender.

All of that being said, it will be interesting to see who steps up for Tennessee with Hopkins gone. Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd are clearly the top two wide receivers on the roster. Behind those two wideouts, names like Treylon Burks and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine will be asked to play a bigger role.

Burks is out for the next few weeks due to injury, but when he gets back on the field he will have a much bigger opportunity to prove that he can live up to the Titans drafting him with the No. 18 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

It's a big move for Tennessee to trade Hopkins. But, it's one that was expected and is not a signal one way or another about Levis. Despite that fact, he's still a big loser from the deal after losing his top target.

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