5-Time Pro Bowler Wants to Join the Vikings
When a team lands a big fish like Kyler Murray, sometimes his old friends want to join. That’s the case for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who publicly acknowledged over the weekend that he’d like to join the Minnesota Vikings.
Hopkins wants in, and the Vikings have room for a proven veteran.
Hopkins is a free agent, and Minnesota may need a WR3. The connection makes sense.
The Vikings Make Sense for DeAndre Hopkins
Would you mind Hopkins as the third wide receiver in 2026?
Hopkins: I’m Here if Murray, Vikings Need Me
There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Hopkins would play for the Vikings this season if called upon.
Asked by TMZ this week about the Vikings as a landing spot, he replied, “Kyler — that’s my boy, man. Kyler is like family. I talked to Kyler throughout the year last year. I talked to Kyler after, you know, his situation in Arizona. Kyler’s like family, man.”
“I would always, you know, embrace that journey with him. He’s on a one-year deal? Whatever I can do for what someone like that — if Kyler need me he know I’m there, if the Vikings need me they know I’ll be there.”
That doesn’t leave much to the imagination.
Hopkins’s Career Production
The Baltimore Ravens targeted Hopkins just 39 times in 2025 — or 14 fewer than Jalen Nailor in Minnesota, who filled the Vikings’ WR3 role last season. The year prior, in Kansas City and Tennessee, Hopkins posted WR3-adjacent numbers, perhaps suggesting he could return to that role in 2026 if fed targets from Kyler Murray.
These are his numbers since turning pro in 2015:
2025 — BAL: 22 Rec | 330 Yds | 2 TDs
2024 — KC/TEN: 56 Rec | 610 Yds | 5 TDs
2023 — TEN: 75 Rec | 1,057 Yds | 7 TDs
2022 — ARI: 64 Rec | 717 Yds | 3 TDs
2021 — ARI: 42 Rec | 572 Yds | 8 TDs
2020 — ARI: 115 Rec | 1,407 Yds | 6 TDs
2019 — HOU: 104 Rec | 1,165 Yds | 7 TDs
2018 — HOU: 115 Rec | 1,572 Yds | 11 TDs
2017 — HOU: 96 Rec | 1,378 Yds | 13 TDs
2016 — HOU: 78 Rec | 954 Yds | 4 TDs
2015 — HOU: 111 Rec | 1,521 Yds | 11 TDs
Would-Be WR Group
Let’s suppose that the Vikings hear Hopkins interest and oblige. Before adding any WRs in the draft next month — Minnesota has nine picks on the menu, up from five in 2025 — the wide receiving gang could look like this:
- Justin Jefferson
- Jordan Addison
- DeAndre Hopkins
- Tai Felton
- Myles Price
- Jeshaun Jones
- Dontae Fleming
- Joaquin Davis
It’s also worth noting that most of the other notable free-agent wide receivers have flown off the board to new teams, leaving Hopkins as a last man standing of sorts.
NBC Sports‘ Mike Florio on the prospect of Hopkins to Minnesota: “The more pressing question for Hopkins is whether the Vikings envision a spot for him in the lineup. The depth chart is led by Justin Jefferson, obviously. Jordan Addison is the No. 2, as he approaches the last year of his first-round rookie deal. (The question of whether they’ll exercise his fifth-year option may not be the no-brainer it once seemed to be).”
“Jalen Nailor, mainly a slot receiver, left in free agency. Hopkins has a specific and unique skill set. He displayed it during Saturday’s flag football event, boxing out an overmatched Team USA defender to make a one-handed catch of the undersized ball. Hopkins could be a potent weapon in the red zone, giving Murray an option for jump balls in the back corner if/when the defense focuses on Jefferson.”
Other WR Options from Free Agency + Draft
Speaking of free agency, these are the remaining options for WR3 as of March 23rd, in addition to Hopkins:
- Curtis Samuel
- Deebo Samuel
- Jauan Jennings
- JuJu Smith-Schuster
- Keenan Allen
- Noah Brown
- Stefon Diggs
- Tyreek Hill
Or — if the Vikings want a wideout in the first three rounds of the draft — again … after the Felton pick last year — these are the options, listed in Consensus Big Board order:
- Carnell Tate (Ohio State)
- Makai Lemon (USC)
- Jordyn Tyson (Arizona State)
- Omar Cooper Jr. (Indiana)
- Denzel Boston (Washington)
- Kevin Concepcion (Texas A&M)
- Chris Brazzell (Tennessee)
- Chris Bell (Louisville)
- Germie Bernard (Alabama)
- Zachariah Branch (Georgia)
- Malachi Fields (Notre Dame)
- Antonio Williams (Clemson)
- Elijah Sarratt (Indiana)
- Skyler Bell (UConn)
- Ted Hurst (Georgia State)
- Bryce Lance (North Dakota State)
- Deion Burks (Oklahoma)
- Ja’Kobi Lane (USC)
Too, Minnesota could have strategically planned for a Felton redshirt year in 2025, meaning there’s a small chance that he’s tapped on the shoulder for WR3 duty and that Hopkins isn’t needed.
Hopkins will turn 34 this summer and has a borderline Hall of Fame resume.
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