Tennessee Titans suffer setback in post-Week 18 aftermath of Chiefs' DeAndre Hopkins trade

The DeAndre Hopkins trade to the Kansas City Chiefs was expected to give the Tennessee Titans a fourth-round draft pick, but after Week 18, the situation changed. The Titans have secured the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft but will have to wait one more round before making the selection from that deal.

Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac reported that after playing less than 50% of regular season snaps, the Chiefs will send a fifth-rounder to the Titans instead of a potential fourth-rounder.

DeAndre Hopkins started the season with the Titans and played six games before being dealt to the back-to-back Super Bowl champions, where he played 10 games, but didn't play the number of snaps his former team wanted, making them miss out on a draft pick that could have been more favorable to Tennessee.

Then again, they have the No. 1 pick, which could give them the chance to start a new project with Colorado's Shedeur Sanders or Miami's Cam Ward as the faces of the franchise at quarterback. Beyond that, the Titans have more issues to address, but Brian Callahan has experience working in a similar situation, as he did so with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2020.

If they can work something like the Bengals did five years ago and land their Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins, then the squad will be just fine moving forward. That's why the potential fourth-round pick was very attractive to Tennessee, but after DeAndre Hopkins and the starters were rested in Week 18, several plans around the league were ruined.

Revisiting DeAndre Hopkins' numbers with Chiefs

Now that the regular season is over and the Chiefs will have an extra week to rest, DeAndre Hopkins could have the opportunity to make a bigger impact on Kansas City's offense. He caught 41 passes for 437 yards and two receiving touchdowns.

He's not the same player he was in Houston or Tennessee, but Hopkins proved he can be a solid contributor to this offense. His experience could benefit this squad again in the playoffs, as they vie for the first three-peat in NFL history this year.

The 15-2 team has a target on its back and everybody will try to take them out in an AFC that has some heavyweights like the Baltimore Ravens or Buffalo Bills.

Kansas City kept winning both on and off the field with this DeAndre Hopkins move.