A player with name recognition becomes available and Green Bay Packers fans far and wide hit Twitter in anticipation of the Packers striking a deal. It’s a tale as old as time, and the end result is always the same: The Packers never get the player.
This time it’s wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who the Arizona Cardinals surprisingly cut instead of trading him for draft compensation. Packers fans have already flooded social media with photoshops of Hopkins in a Packers uniform. But rest assured, it won’t happen — and for once, it wouldn’t make sense.
Green Bay is in the midst of a major transition. Aaron Rodgers is gone and Jordan Love is in. One could argue a veteran, superstar wideout like Hopkins is exactly what Love needs, but look around. The depth chart at WR is topped with second-year players Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. After that it gets murky, but the theme that remains is a youth movement. Rookies Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks, and Grant DuBose will all try to carve out a roster spot for themselves, and then a role in the offense. Fellow second-year wideout Samori Toure should have ample opportunity to prove his worth.
The point is that Green Bay isn’t a DeAndre Hopkins away from taking the NFC by storm. Yes, the conference on the surface is far weaker than the AFC, and the NFC North in particular appears up for grabs with the Detroit Lions as the odds-on favorite. But if general manager Brian Gutekunst hasn’t made a move of this magnitude in recent years, it’d be foolish to expect it now.
You know when Hopkins or someone cut from that cloth would’ve made sense? Last year. Or two years ago. Or even three years ago.
Two seasons ago, Green Bay was closing in on the No. 1 seed in the NFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Things were humming, but a steady No. 2 wideout next to Davante Adams was the one missing ingredient. As fate would have it, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. became available. It made all the sense in the world for the Packers to ink a deal with the veteran wide receiver for the rest of the season. Instead, OBJ went to the Los Angeles Rams and, well, we all know how that played out.
OBJ is just one of many examples in recent years where the Packers could’ve pushed a ton of chips into the middle of the table and bet on their offense to win it all. They never went that route, though. And while it’s not a guarantee that Green Bay would’ve won a title if they tried that strategy, it hammers home the point that Hopkins to the Packers won’t be happening.
If Rodgers was back in the fold, it would be far more logical. But he’s not.
Hopkins will be 31 years old in a week. Bringing him in would take away opportunities from Watson and Doubs. The domino effect would be in full force. All for what? Two years of D-Hop?
Don’t get it twisted, Hopkins is an exceptional receiver. Considering where the Packers are though right now — they’ll never call it a rebuild — it’s trying to put a square peg in a round hole.
That doesn’t mean the Packers should expect to fizzle this year or throw up a white flag. If things go right, Green Bay can compete for a playoff spot. Look at the schedule, look at the opposing quarterbacks they will face, then look at the talent on the Packers’ defense (and then look away from Joe Barry still being the defensive coordinator).
Hopkins just isn’t the right fit at this time.
And view it from Hopkins’ perspective as well. The superstar wideout recently appeared as a guest on the I Am Athlete podcast and listed the quarterbacks he’d love to play with. The list includes Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, and Patrick Mahomes. All five have been to the playoffs, two have appeared in a Super Bowl, and Mahomes has hoisted the Lombardi Trophy twice. All five are tiers ahead of where the Packers and Love currently reside.
Hopkins is aiming for a destination where he has a proven quarterback and a team that gives him a chance to win a Super Bowl. Green Bay would’ve checked the boxes three years ago. Now they’re an unknown. And while the hope is that Love will prove to be the guy, it’s a great mystery entering the 2023 campaign.
Packers fans are doing what Packers fans do. You can’t blame them. On the surface level, Hopkins to Green Bay sounds like a dream. Zoom out the microscope, view it from both perspectives, and it’s fairly obvious that the deal wouldn’t make sense for either side.
