Veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is coming off the least-productive year of his NFL career, catching just 22 passes last season despite playing in all 17 games for the Ravens. He says he’d love to spend another year in Baltimore, if the new coaching staff has a role for him.
New Ravens head coach Jesse Minter has not yet hired an offensive coordinator, and Hopkins is set to be an unrestricted free agent, so a lot is up in the air for Hopkins. He told Kay Adams he needs to see what kind of offense the Ravens are running before he knows if it’s a good fit for him.
“The reality of it, having a new offensive coordinator, being an older guy, I know football and I know how the business side works,” Hopkins said. “I would love to come back, but not every offensive coordinator is wanting a veteran receiver on their team. Some guys have different dynamics of how they go about coaching. It’s nothing personal.”
Hopkins, who will turn 34 in June, said he loves playing with Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
“Obviously Lamar and I had a great connection,” Hopkins said. “I think when he came to me I might have been Top 10 in productive receivers in the NFL when the ball came my way. I love Baltimore, and me being a competitor, I would have loved to be used more, even though we had Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman and Isaiah Likely, I’m always gonna have that mindset that I want to be in the game. That will never change but it doesn’t upset me that I wasn’t, it doesn’t make me a bad teammate, I’m still cheering the guys on that are in the game, but I felt that I could have been used more.”
Hopkins was one of the best wide receivers in the NFL when the Texans traded him to the Cardinals in 2020, but he has played for four different teams in the last four seasons and hasn’t found a great fit. He’ll be 34 in June and knows it might be hard for him to catch on somewhere and stay there for years.
“I love Baltimore, I think the city is great, the people and fans are amazing, organization is amazing, why wouldn’t I want to come back?” Hopkins said. “I would love to play with Lamar again. I don’t know the last time I played with a quarterback two years in a row. It sucks, but it’s part of the game.”
