Trade conditions make the Chiefs' deal to acquire WR DeAndre Hopkins from the Titans even sweeter
The Kansas City Chiefs pulled off quite the deal with the Tennessee Titans to acquire WR DeAndre Hopkins in trade. Initial reports indicated that the deal for Hopkins would involve a conditional fifth-round draft pick, which could become a fourth-round draft pick. Now that those trade conditions have been revealed they make the deal for Hopkins that […]
The Kansas City Chiefs pulled off quite the deal with the Tennessee Titans to acquire WR DeAndre Hopkins in trade.
Initial reports indicated that the deal for Hopkins would involve a conditional fifth-round draft pick, which could become a fourth-round draft pick. Now that those trade conditions have been revealed they make the deal for Hopkins that much sweeter for the reigning Super Bowl champions. It looks a lot like your typical Brett Veach masterclass.
Here's a quick look at the conditions. . .
Chiefs receive:
WR DeAndre Hopkins
AND
$2.5 million in Hopkins' salary paid by Tennessee
Titans receive:
A 2025 fifth-round pick
OR
A 2025 fourth-round pick IF KC makes the Super Bowl and Hopkins plays 60% of the offensive snaps with the Chiefs in 2024.
Why Chiefs fans should love the trade conditions for DeAndre Hopkins
The first part about the trade that K.C. fans should note is the finances. The Chiefs had just $4.3 million in salary cap space ahead of this trade. Hopkins is due about $5.7 million for the remainder of the 2024 NFL season given his base salary proration. Getting the Titans to pay $2.5 million guarantees that Kansas City can afford to pay Hopkins.
The conditions that could make the 2025 fifth-round pick into a fourth-round draft pick are also something beneficial for Kansas City. It's contingent on two things. First, is that the Chiefs make Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. That's a pretty solid bet given that the Chiefs have appeared in five of the last six Super Bowls and are currently the only undefeated team in the NFL.
The second condition is that Hopkins plays 60% of the team's offensive snaps from here on out. Hopkins is dealing with an MCL injury he suffered during the offseason, but this condition suggests that Tennessee feels he's healthy and can stay healthy for the duration of the season. Yet, Hopkins has only played 46.6% of the Titans' offensive snaps so far. In Kansas City, only two skill players have eclipsed 60% of the Chiefs' offensive snaps to this point of the season: TE Travis Kelce and rookie WR Xavier Worthy.
Even without some sort of subversion tactic to limit Hopkins' snaps and avoid paying a fourth-round pick, it feels like the writing is on the wall. The Chiefs like to rotate personnel and don't use a lot of their skill players like workhorses. Expect them to wind up sending just a fifth-round draft pick to the Titans for Hopkins and that'll be that.
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