The Kansas City Chiefs made a big move when they traded for DeAndre Hopkins last October. Short on weapons at receiver after injuries to Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Rashee Rice, the three-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler was to be unlocked catching passes from Patrick Mahomes and help lead Kansas City to a third straight championship.
Unfortunately, the Chiefs didn’t get what they paid for. Hopkins was a dud, catching 41 passes for 437 yards and four touchdowns in 10 games with Kansas City and the Chiefs couldn’t complete the three-peat, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.
Hopkins signed with the Baltimore Ravens during the offseason and seemed to close the book on an underwhelming trade. But it appears Hopkins may give the Chiefs a gift on his way out of Kansas City and the Chiefs will look to cash out during next year’s draft.
Chiefs Projected to Receive 2026 NFL Draft Pick for DeAndre Hopkins Departure
Monday marked the end of the NFL’s compensatory draft pick period, which compensates teams for losing talent during free agency. While most of the moves canceled out, Hopkins’s move stood alone with Over The Cap projecting that the Chiefs will receive a seventh-round draft pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
According to Over The Cap’s explanation, contracts are ranked via a final numerical value on the sum of points awarded as an inverse ranking of the contract’s average per year, percentage of snaps played on offense or defense (min. 25%) and whether the player was honored on the AP All Pro or PFWA On Field Awards lists.
The round for each contract is assigned on a percentile basis, with third-round picks awarded in the top five percentile of contracts, fourth-round picks awarded from the fifth to the 10th percentile, fifth-round picks awarded from the 10th to the 15th percentile, sixth-round picks awarded from the 15th to the 25th percentile and seventh-round picks from the 25th to the 35th percentile.
While there is no quiz to this process at the end of the article, all you should know is this. The Chiefs lost two compensatory free agents in Tershawn Wharton and Justin Reid, but gained two similar free agents in Jaylon Moore and Kristian Fulton. While those players canceled out the fifth-round picks Kansas City would have received if they didn’t sign anyone to replace them, Hopkins was never replaced, giving the Chiefs a seventh-round selection.
It should be noted that these are projections and things could change by the time Kansas City gets to next offseason. But after sending a 2024 fifth-round pick (Sacramento State guard Jackson Slater) to the Tennessee Titans, the Chiefs wound up receiving a 2026 seventh-round pick in addition to Hopkins, taking some of the sting out of an unsuccessful trade.