News broke on Wednesday that DeAndre Hopkins would be going on his first free-agency visit later this week. While a number of teams have been rumored to be in the market to sign the free-agent star wide receiver, one team is seemingly the frontrunner in the sweepstakes.
Per NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, Hopkins is set to fly to Nashville later this week for a visit with the Tennessee Titans. While Kansas City and Buffalo have been the rumored destinations for Hopkins, who likely wants to be with a Super Bowl contender, financial constraints have prevented that from already happening.
So, Hopkins has decided to go on a couple of free agent visits, starting with Tennessee, where there are already some familiar faces. During his time in the AFC South with the Houston Texans, Hopkins overlapped with Titans head coach Mike Vrabel. Yes, Vrabel has been the head coach of the Titans since 2018, but prior to that, he served as the Texans’ linebackers coach and defensive coordinator.
There is a bit of history there. And with that, Vrabel seemingly confirmed Pelissero’s report and sent Hopkins a message in the process.
“The first thing is we want players that want to be here,” Vrabel said. “We’ll work through anything else. We brought in a bunch of different players, and DeAndre will be somebody that we’ll bring in next week, early next week, at the end of this week, and go through the same visit we’ll go through with everybody and start the process.”
It remains to be seen if Hopkins ultimately ends up in Tennessee with Vrabel, but the Titans will do their due diligence on the All-Pro receiver who curiously could make his way back to the AFC South. Perhaps Hopkins could be a suitable replacement for A.J. Brown, all well as complimenting Treylon Burks. That would certainly right a couple of wrongs.
[Tennessee Titans, Tom Pelissero on Twitter]
