DeAndre Hopkins has been the hot topic of discussion in the NFL world after it was announced that he would be released by the Arizona Cardinals last week. 

Now, it appears that two teams have emerged as the top contenders to land the star wide receiver and it pains me to inform you, the Philadelphia Eagles are not one of them.  

According to ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills are the top two teams that are in contention to sign Hopkins and are currently in an “arms race” to prevent him from signing with the opposing AFC rival, which apparently is of more interest than the wide receiver himself. 

Chiefs and Bills in an arms race to land DeAndre Hopkins

“(The Chiefs) do believe Kadarius Toney can be a No. 1-type of receiver. So I don’t get the sense they’re overly desperate to make this happen, but there is certainly some interest,” Fowler said. “When you talk to other NFL teams, they believe the Bills are a threat here and have been for a while. I still suspect you have two contenders in the AFC that are trying to combat each other and make sure one doesn’t get Hopkins over the other. It’s a little bit of an arms race there.”

The Cleveland Browns and New York Jets were two other teams named as “sleeper” picks to land Hopkins in free agency. Both the Jets and Browns will enter the 2023 season with two new starting quarterbacks Week 1, with DeShaun Watson playing his first full season with the Browns and Aaron Rodgers now in New York. 

Eagles still in play to land Hopkins..?

Even with the Eagles not being named as a potential landing spot for Hopkins, the former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver is already on record stating he would like to play with Jalen Hurts.

Philadelphia has roughly $14.6 million available under the cap, which would be the most out of any team that Hopkins expressed interest in joining. 

According to Pro Football Network, Hopkins could be seeking a similar deal to what Odell Beckham signed with the Baltimore Ravens. Beckham signed a 1-year $15 million deal with the Ravens after sitting out the entirety of the 2022 season with an ACL injury.

Beckham’s deal comes with nearly $14 million in guaranteed money. 

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Still, that type of deal would be almost $4 million less than what Hopkins was making in Arizona and while he could take a discount to join a Super Bowl contender in Philadelphia, I find it hard to believe he’d do that when teams like the Chiefs and Bills are already considered favorites to sign him. 

Kansas City and Buffalo were reportedly the only two teams that initially showed interest in Hopkins when the Cardinals were looking to trade him. No deal happened because of his contract, which ultimately resulted in Arizona releasing him to the open market. 

LISTEN: The Philly Pod on DeAndre Hopkins joining the Eagles >>

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