Patriots Rumors: DeAndre Hopkins, Jerry Jeudy Trades Eyed amid Odell Beckham Jr. Buzz

The New England Patriots have reportedly expressed interest in trading for DeAndre Hopkins and Jerry Jeudy.

Jeff Howe of The Athletic reported Wednesday that the Patriots are "in" on the wide receiver market but are only willing to pay a certain price threshold. New England was also among the contingent of teams that attended Odell Beckham Jr.'s workout last week.

Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald reported the Patriots also have interest in free-agent wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster.

No Patriots wide receiver has topped 1,000 yards since Julian Edelman in 2019. Even during the latter period of Tom Brady's career in New England, wide receiver remained a weak spot with Edelman and tight end Rob Gronkowski doing a bulk of the work while the team shuffled through a series of underwhelming secondary options.

The organization has not produced a Pro Bowl wide receiver since Wes Welker in 2012.

Hopkins has the highest profile among the group linked to the Patriots. He's a five-time Pro Bowler and is second among active wide receivers with 853 career receptions. Only Julio Jones, whose career is on its last legs, has more catches than Hopkins.

The Cardinals have reportedly been exploring a trade for Hopkins this offseason but do not appear to have made any traction. He recorded 64 receptions for 717 yards and three touchdowns after serving a six-game suspension for failing a performance-enhancing drug test.

Jeudy set career highs with 67 receptions, 972 yards and six touchdowns in 2022, but the Broncos are loaded with young receivers. It's possible they'll look to move on before having to exercise Jeudy's fifth-year option next year or sign him to a long-term contract extension.

Beckham missed the entire 2022 season while recovering from an ACL tear suffered in Super Bowl LVI. The 30-year-old's last 1,000-yard receiving season came in 2019 and he hasn't made a Pro Bowl since 2016.

Smith-Schuster has just one Pro Bowl on his resume, coming in 2018.

While Beckham and Smith-Schuster would not cost anything in terms of draft compensation, they're arguably worse options for the Patriots if they're looking to make a splash.