As the Tennessee Titans are off to a disappointing 1-3 start to the 2024 campaign, trade speculation surrounding wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is beginning to run wild.
It isn't far-fetched, though. Hopkins is in the final year of his contract and if the Titans keep going the way they're going, they could become sellers at the trade deadline and moving Hopkins wouldn't be an outlandish move by any stretch.
With trade talk heating up, Hopkins took to Twitter on Saturday and appeared to address the situation in a cryptic tweet.
"I was raised to be loyal and don’t take the easy road," Hopkins wrote.
I was raised to be loyal and don’t take the easy road…
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) October 5, 2024
As many were wondering whether or not the Titans would extend Hopkins before the start of the season, the Titans wide receiver made it clear he loves Nashville and wants to remain with the team.
"I love Tennessee, and I love what Miss Amy (Adams Strunk) is doing," Hopkins said in July. "I think this is the happiest I've been in any organization, so let that speak for itself.
"(I like) how Miss Amy runs things. It's a great place to be. She is putting pieces together to try and win, and it's exciting."
Despite the issues the Titans are having on offense, Hopkins has not been playing a full complement of snaps, as he's played 29 or fewer in each of the first four games, including just 21 last week.
It was thought that was because of the knee injury he's playing through, but head coach Brian Callahan made it clear that is not the case and Hopkins isn't on a "pitch count."
“We rotate those guys," Callahan said of the receivers after the win over Miami in Week 4. "But there are some things (Treylon) Burks does that help us in the running game, with blocking. We weren’t throwing the ball, either.”
"If we were throwing the ball a whole lot more, I'm sure he would have been involved a whole lot more," Callahan added.
Whatever the issue is with Hopkins' snaps, it's not outlandish to think that the Titans could trade him at the deadline, but that might not be what the veteran receiver actually wants based on what he said on Saturday.
