Under the awards subhead of DeAndre Hopkins’ r\u00e9sum\u00e9, you’ll find plenty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Five-time Pro Bowler. Three-time All-Pro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But a quick Google search of Hopkins’ name also delivers a sobering dose of reality in 2026. The first generated entry: What happened to DeAndre Hopkins?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such is the harsh portion of an NFL career’s twilight, one that often comes without warning and is rarely easy to process. Some ride off into the sunset on their own terms, while silence tells others they’re no longer wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hopkins is caught somewhere in between. He spent the 2025 season playing for the Baltimore Ravens, a partnership that promised great results but ended up fizzling in part because of how little the Ravens used him. Hopkins finished last year with just 22 receptions on 39 targets for 330 yards with two touchdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That shouldn’t diminish what he can offer a team in 2026, at least not in Hopkins’ mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I still got a lot ball left,” Hopkins said during an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “But it’s not a situation I’m sitting here trying to force or go out and be the regular-season superstar because that’s for the young guys, man. That’s for the people that they want to develop and give those contracts for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I know in my position, I’m a utility guy. I’m a special situation kind of guy. I can go out there and beat anybody one on one at any time, but as of lately, I’ve been a third-down guy. I wasn’t used in the red zone last year. But (on) third down, they’re gonna put D-Hop in, they’re gonna come to me. I don’t think that’ll change anytime soon.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At 34 years old, a player of Hopkins’ caliber usually falls in one of two buckets. They’re either spending their golden years with the only team they’ve ever known, destined for a place in the club’s ring of honor and a key to the city, or they’re clinging on to their love for the game with the hopes of latching on with a team riding Super Bowl aspirations into a new year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latter group of veterans don’t sign quickly and are frequently subjected to such lines of questioning. They almost always admit they’d love to chase a ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hopkins is no different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Going into year 14, I would love to play for a competitor if that time came,” Hopkins said, “but I’m not in no rush to go out and be a regular-season superstar because for me, I’m not getting a contract extension.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He’s right. The 2026 season could be his last. Time will tell whether a contender with a need — perhaps one of his former employers, the Kansas City Chiefs, could give him a call — will dial Hopkins. As he made clear Wednesday, Hopkins will be ready to bring the same skills that made him a household name wherever he’s wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Under the awards subhead of DeAndre Hopkins’ r\u00e9sum\u00e9, you’ll find plenty. Five-time Pro Bowler. Three-time All-Pro. But a quick Google search of Hopkins’ name also delivers a sobering dose of reality in 2026. The first generated entry: What happened to DeAndre Hopkins? Such is the harsh portion of an NFL career’s twilight, one that often […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-418369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12903"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":418370,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418369\/revisions\/418370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}