Veteran receiver DeAndre Hopkins is looking for a new NFL team. He’s hoping to tap into an old connection.
Hopkins recently told TMZ that he’d like to reunite with quarterback Kyler Murray in Minnesota.
“Kyler . . . that’s my bro, man,” Hopkins said. “Kyler is like family. Whatever I can do for someone like that — if Kyler needed me, if the Vikings need me, they know I’ll be there.”
The remark reconfirms the perception that Murray is the new starter in Minnesota (or, at a minimum, that it’s Murray’s job to lose).
The more pressing question for Hopkins is whether the Vikings envision a spot for him in the lineup. The depth chart is led by Justin Jefferson, obviously. Jordan Addison is the No. 2, as he approaches the last year of his first-round rookie deal. (The question of whether they’ll exercise his fifth-year option may not be the no-brainer it once seemed to be.) Jalen Nailor, mainly a slot receiver, left in free agency.
Hopkins has a specific and unique skill set. He displayed it during Saturday’s flag football event, boxing out an overmatched Team USA defender to make a one-handed catch of the undersized ball.
Hopkins turns 34 in June. He overlapped with Murray in Arizona from 2020 through 2022. He caught the Hail Murray touchdown pass amid a sea of Buffalo defenders, capping arguably the highlight of Murray’s career to date.
The challenge becomes setting aside Hopkins’s past achievements and assessing his expected contributions as of 2026. He had limited opportunities with the Ravens in 2025, catching 41 passes on 59 targets for 437 yards and four touchdowns.
Still, Hopkins could be a potent weapon in the red zone, giving Murray an option for jump balls in the back corner if/when the defense focuses on Jefferson.
