Patriots Have Inquired About WRs DeAndre Hopkins & Jerry Jeudy

According to Jeff Howe, the Patriots have made calls about potential trades regarding Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins and Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy.

Howe points out that New England also attended free-agent WR Odell Beckham Jr.‘s workout last week in Arizona. 

Mike Giardi also reports the Patriots have “remained engaged” with Beckham and free-agent WR JuJu Smith-Schuster. 

Doug Kyed confirmed the Patriots have been in “close contact” with one of the top free-agent receivers currently available. 

In the end, Howe writes that the price for any of their receiving options remains the “key component” in a deal. 

Earlier today, Howe reported Jeudy has been a “hot name this week” as a possible trade candidate and Denver wants “at least” a first-round pick in exchange for the receiver. 

According to Jeremy Fowler, teams he’s spoken to have said the Cardinals want “hefty compensation” for Hopkins and they’d want a “premium Day 2 pick and more” in exchange for the veteran receiver. 

Hopkins, 30, is a former first-round pick of the Texans back in 2013. Houston later traded Hopkins to the Cardinals in return for David Johnson and draft picks. 

Hopkins was in the third year of his five-year, $81 million extension that included $49 million guaranteed when he agreed to a two-year, $54.5 million extension with the Cardinals. 

Hopkins is owed base salaries of $19,450,000 and $14,915,000 over the final two years of the agreement, which is likely why he’ll want a new deal.

The Cardinals would take on $22.6 million of dead money and create $8.15 million of cap space by trading him.

In 2022, Hopkins appeared in nine games for the Cardinals and caught 64 passes for 717 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

Jeudy, 23, is a former first-round pick of the Broncos back in 2020. He’s in the final year of his four-year, $15.192 million deal that included an $8.61 million signing bonus.

The Broncos will have a fifth-year option to pick up on Jeudy in the coming months. 

In 2022, Jeudy appeared in 15 games for the Broncos and caught 67 passes for 972 yards receiving and six touchdowns.

We’ll have more regarding the Patriots as the news is available.