Despite DeAndre Hopkins leaving his free-agent visit with the New England Patriots without a deal, all signs point toward there still being strong mutual interest.
Hopkins left Foxboro "intrigued" about the opportunity to sign with New England, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported after the meeting. On Sunday morning's "SportsCenter," Fowler shared another encouraging update.
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“The Patriots feel they’re in a pretty good spot,” Fowler said. "They had a really productive visit with Hopkins on Thursday. He showed up early in the morning and was there late into the afternoon, spent part of the night in New England. Spent significant time in the building with Bill Belichick. I’m told there’s significant mutual respect between Hopkins, the player, and the Hall of Fame coach in Belichick.
"They’re hopeful, certainly. The interest is high and Hopkins gave the impression that he’s certainly intrigued, interested in playing with New England, but he also visited with the Titans. He’s not in a major rush to sign anywhere. He could wait closer to training camp if need be depending on the right deal.”
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer relayed on Thursday's "Early Edition" that Hopkins and Belichick had "quite a bit of 1-on-1 time" during the visit. Hopkins also took to Instagram with a photo from the Patriots' locker room alongside Matthew Judon.
Now, it appears the star wide receiver will take the next month or so to weigh his options. He met with the Tennessee Titans prior to his Patriots visit and reportedly has also drawn interest from the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. We may not get a decision from Hopkins until training camp begins in late July.
While the Patriots' interest in Hopkins remains high, they won't be crushed if the 31-year-old signs elsewhere this summer. Our Phil Perry shared on Friday that the organization doesn't believe an upgrade at the wideout position is as dire as many have made it out to be.
Currently, New England's wide receiver depth chart consists of DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kendrick Bourne, Tyquan Thornton, and sixth-round rookies Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas.