The Baltimore Ravens have garnered quite a lot of praise for their signing of star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, but it seems not quite everyone is on board.
Mike Sando of The Athletic invited NFL executives to share their reactions to every team’s free agency moves, and while one of those executives approved of the Ravens re-signing Ronnie Stanley, he was much harsher on the addition of Hopkins.
“I like the fact that they kept their guy (Stanley),” the executive said. “He’s had some injuries, but he still is a good player… D-Hop, that doesn’t do anything for me. He’s just a name at this point.”
That’s a very different reaction than what most fans and pundits have shared, but from a certain perspective, it might make sense.
Hopkins, 32, is clearly not the receiver he once was, and the Ravens signing him to a one-year deal worth $5 million is proof of that. His 2024 season, in which he had 56 receptions for 610 yards and five touchdowns in 16 games with the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs, was one of the worst of his career in terms of production, and all but assured his days as a No. 1 option are behind him.
That said, the Ravens clearly didn’t sign Hopkins to be their No. 1 receiver. He’s projected to be their No. 3 receiver behind Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman, and in that regard, he’s easily an upgrade over what they had before. For just $5 million, they did about as well as they could’ve hoped for.
Will Hopkins be a huge difference-maker for the Ravens’ offense? Maybe he will be, maybe he won’t be. However, he should be able to help in some way at the very least.
