DeAndre Hopkins Rumors: Titans 'Well-Positioned' to Land Star WR amid Patriots Buzz

Three weeks away from the start of training camps, DeAndre Hopkins is still trying to find a team after being released by the Arizona Cardinals.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler told SportsCenter that the Tennessee Titans are "well-positioned" to sign the five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, with the New England Patriots also in the mix:

"Those two are still heavily in the mix, you could call them the favorites still, but they've kept in contact. The Titans, I'm told, are pretty well-positioned here. They're certainly motivated to do this from coach Mike Vrabel on down. They are very intrigued by the possibility of Hopkins in their offense with Ryan Tannehill. Hopkins has interest there too.

"I'm told he had a great visit with New England a couple weeks ago, so there's certainly some mutual interest there, has a lot of respect for Bill Belichick. Like usual, a lot's going to depend on what comes with the contract front, so we'll see who steps up there, but this is something where he can wait closer to training camp, but I was also told that something could get done in the next week or two, so it just really depends on who steps up."

The Titans were Hopkins' first free-agent visit following his release by the Cardinals on May 26. He posted video on his Instagram arriving at Tennessee's facilities for his visit on June 11.

ESPN's Dianna Russini noted Hopkins ended his visit with the Titans on June 12 "after spending hours with the players and staff," but no deal was reached between the two sides.

Hopkins met with Patriots coaches and officials on June 15 with no agreement. ESPN's Mike Reiss reported the two sides were "expected to take some time to assess their next steps" before making any decisions.

The Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs were previously discussed as potential options for Hopkins, but he hasn't had a visit with any of those clubs. It could be difficult for either the Bills or Chiefs to make a serious run at him due to their lack of cap space.

Kansas City is only $858,856 below the cap right now. The Bills have just over $5 million available. Cleveland has $17.2 million in cap space if it wants to try reuniting Hopkins and Deshaun Watson.

The Titans and Patriots are two teams that desperately need help at wide receiver. Tennessee's top three currently consists of Treylon Burks, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Kyle Philips.

The Patriots have Kendrick Bourne, DeVante Parker and JuJu Smith-Schuster as the top targets for Mac Jones.

New England would seem like it should have more urgency to add another playmaker since it has to compete in the same division with high-powered offenses like the Bills, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.

Tennessee could see a path to contention with a little more firepower on offense in a weak AFC South with the Jacksonville Jaguars the only team that finished over .500 last season.

Hopkins only played nine games for the Cardinals in 2022, but he racked up 64 receptions and 717 yards for the Cardinals. Robert Woods led the Titans with 53 receptions and 527 yards in 17 games last season.