The Kansas City Chiefs enter the 2025 offseason with key decisions to make in their wide receiver room. Currently, Kansas City only has three receivers who have seen significant playing time under contract for 2025. Those receivers are Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Skyy Moore. Veterans DeAndre Hopkins, Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, and JuJu Smith-Schuster will all enter free agency on March 10.
That said, many fans have been debating which of those three wide receivers the Chiefs should try to keep. Most are split between keeping Hopkins for his veteran savvy and reliable hands or Brown because of his vertical threat.
On Tuesday's episode of Cody & Gold on 96.5 The Fan, a local radio station in Kansas City, general manager Brett Veach made it pretty clear which one the organization is more interested in keeping. During his 15-minute interview, Veach spoke about what Brown was meant to be to this offense in 2024 and what it would mean to re-sign him. However, he never once mentioned Hopkins, potentially signaling his days in Kansas City are over.
Cody & Gold https://t.co/fDNEg5RHkB
— 96.5 The Fan (@TheFan965) February 25, 2025
DeAndre Hopkins Likely Won't Return to Kansas City in 2025
Veach not mentioning Hopkins as he did Brown isn't as surprising as it should be. Hopkins was acquired midway through the season to help boost the wide receiver room of the injured Chiefs. Yet, he didn't exactly become a favorite target of Patrick Mahomes.
The 32-year-old finished the season with 41 receptions on 59 targets for 437 yards and four touchdowns. Although it looked like Hopkins was going to become a big part of the offense after his Week 9 performance of eight receptions on nine targets for 86 yards and two touchdowns, he didn't. Instead, he only put together two more games of 50+ receiving yards.
Moreover, Hopkins didn't leave a great final impression in the Super Bowl. In the biggest game of the year, Hopkins had two receptions of five targets for 18 yards, one touchdown and one crucial drop. The drop came on a play where he was wide open at the end of the second quarter.
Chris Jones has the greatest reaction to Deandre Hopkins dropped pass, this is the new meme of the decade 😂 pic.twitter.com/sfxLhRcv5L
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) February 10, 2025
While there is no telling if that play could have switched the momentum, Hopkins can't drop the pass. Nonetheless, Hopkins has earned the respect of every NFL fan, so whatever happens, Chiefs Kingdom wishes him the best.