DeAndre Hopkins’ short stint with the New England Patriots is officially over, and it was never meant to last long.
Head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed on Thursday that Hopkins is no longer with the Patriots after spending a few days helping the coaching and personnel staff. Hopkins is a free agent wide receiver who is still evaluating his playing future, and his time in Foxborough was framed from the start as a temporary look at coaching and scouting operations.
“He was a good presence,” Vrabel said. The two go back to their time together with the Tennessee Titans, when Vrabel coached Hopkins in 2023.
This was always going to be a short stay. Hopkins is not actually joining the Patriots coaching staff. He was there for an educational visit, essentially getting an inside look at what the coaching side of the game requires. Plenty of star players do this kind of internship as they consider what to do after their playing days end.
The 34-year-old Hopkins has had one of the more unusual late-career arcs in recent memory. He has bounced around the league in the last few years, spending time with the Titans, Chiefs, and briefly with the Ravens. His production has been in decline, but he is still capable of contributing when healthy.
Nobody signed Hopkins as a player this offseason, which suggests the market has cooled significantly on him. That is why the coaching visit makes sense. If the phone is not ringing with playing offers, learning the other side of the game is smart use of time.
For Vrabel and the Patriots, the visit was a low-cost, low-risk favor for a former player he trusts. It gave Hopkins a chance to be around football during training camp without any commitment on either side. The optics of a Hall of Fame-caliber receiver hanging around Patriots practice for a few days probably did not hurt with New England’s own developing receivers either.
The Patriots wide receiver room this year is a work in progress. Stefon Diggs is the veteran leader after being brought in last year. There are some young pieces trying to earn spots. Getting real-world advice from a guy like Hopkins during camp is a genuine benefit for those players.
Whether Hopkins signs with any team as a player this season remains unclear. Teams with receiver injuries will probably kick the tires, but nothing is guaranteed. He has essentially become the veteran who might join a contender in November when they get desperate, and even then it is not a lock.
The bigger conversation here is about Hopkins’ Hall of Fame case. His career numbers are elite: over 12,000 receiving yards, over 80 touchdowns, five Pro Bowl selections, and three All-Pro nods. He was one of the best receivers of his era for a stretch. His resume gets him to Canton in most conversations.
The next few years for him are more about what he does off the field than on it. Coaching visits like this one at Patriots camp are probably just the start of building a post-playing career. Vrabel’s staff was a natural place to start.
Hopkins moves on now, and the Patriots get back to their regular training camp routine. The cameo was a fun story while it lasted.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
