Titans ‘finalize $32 million deal with DeAndre Hopkins’

Five-time Pro Bowl draft pick DeAndre Hopkins appears to be heading to Music City.

The agreement, reportedly originally by Doug Kyed of AtoZ Sports Nashvillewould be a two-year deal worth between $26 million and $32 million, with incentives, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

The Titans spokesperson and Hopkins’ agent did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for confirmation.

The 31-year-old has been among the hottest free agents this offseason and traveled to New England for a practice session last month, but has struggled to find a new team since joining. was cut by the Arizona Cardinals in a move to cut payrolls. back in May.

Arizona made the move three seasons after acquiring Hopkins in a blockbuster trade from Houston and eventually signed him to a $54.5 million contract extension through 2024. Hopkins, soon the 31-year-old would have tallied nearly $31 million over the cap. this season.

DeAndre Hopkins appears to be heading to Nashville after being cut by the Arizona Cardinals

His cap reached in dead money is $22.6 million. The good news for the Cardinals is that he will be ruled out for 2024 when the team should be more competitive.

Tennessee narrowly missed the playoffs last season after losing its final seven games of the year.

Now, after adding promising offensive tackle Peter Skoronski and quarterback Will Levis to the draft, the revamped Titans are hoping to galvanize an offense that ranked 30th in yards last season.

Veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill remains the team’s starter for now, but Levis or Malik Willis could see time under center if Tennessee gets off to a slow start in Nashville.

Fortunately, the Titans should have Hopkins, who has 11,298 career yards and already ranks 36th in league history.

Arizona is rebuilding under new head coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort and keeping Hopkins’ expensive contract didn’t make much sense, especially because franchise quarterback Kyler Murray will likely miss a part of the upcoming season while recovering from a knee injury.

The Cardinals tried for months to trade Hopkins, but his expensive contract made it difficult.

DeAndre Hopkins and Cardinals linebacker Isaiah Simmons watch an NBA playoff game

Hopkins had 221 catches for 2,696 yards and 17 touchdowns in 35 games for Arizona. His most famous catch was a last-second uplift by Murray in the end zone against the Buffalo Bills in 2020, who became known as “Hail Murray.”

His 2020 season was his best in the desert. He caught a franchise-record 115 passes for 1,407 yards and six touchdowns.

For a few months, the Murray-Hopkins combo seemed to become one of the most prolific in the NFL. The Cardinals started the 2021 season with a 10-2 record thanks to their powerful offense, but both Hopkins and Murray struggled with injuries in the second half of the year and the team faded, barely making the playoffs before being blown out by the Rams. in the joker round.

Hopkins never got on track in 2022, starting the year with a six-game suspension after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The Cardinals finished with a 4-13 record, leading to the firing of coach Kliff Kingsbury. The team also parted ways with general manager Steve Keim.