As the earth continues to hurtle around its orbit of the sun, another ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷Íøteam has expressed interest in DeAndre Hopkins without committing to a future with the veteran.
Monday's subject is the New England Patriots, a team that could use a veteran playmaker at the position. Unsurprisingly, coach Bill Belichick remained noncommittal when asked about Hopkins, who is set to visit the Patriots this week.
"We're working through it, so I don't really have anything to add to that," Belichick said. "I think it relates more to logistics and things like that. So, I'm not really a travel agent here. I'm not going to say it's going to happen here, or not going to happen or whatever.
"There's a lot of other stuff going on that I'm not directly involved in, and so I'm not going to say anything and then you turn around and say I misled you in some way because that's not what I'm going to do."
Belichick firmly ended the discussion regarding Hopkins by telling reporters, "I'm not going to talk about players that aren't on the team."
Hopkins ended Monday by departing from a two-day visit with the Tennessee Titans, ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷ÍøNetwork Insider Tom Pelissero reported. Pelissero reported the visit went well, but no offer was made and the Titans are now sitting back to see what Hopkins does.
Monday was classic Belichick, delivering vague, non-specific answers regarding the receivers room while forcing media members to accept a bland conclusion: "Everybody's doing what they can do."
Quarterback Mac Jones, on the other hand, at least allowed himself to dream of a future spent with Hopkins.
"Yeah, I think that's definitely a hypothetical, but I think DeAndre's a great player," Jones said. "I mean, you watch his film from college all the way through the NFL, he's done a great job. Obviously, we'd love to have him, but we do have a great group of guys, and we just know that we want to win, and I know that all the guys feel the same way. But I've been really pleased with all the playmakers we have on our team.
"We've come out here and really bought into the system, and that'll really show in training camp and preseason. Sometimes it's hard to show that out here, but I've been really pleased with the tight ends, running backs and all the receivers, the young guys, the old guys, like D.P. (DeVante Parker) and everybody. So we have a good group and definitely feel like we just need to keep growing together, and whoever's in that room, we're gonna try and dominate together."
New England hasn't been a team that has actively pursued a big name at the position in the last decade, not since the days of Randy Moss and Wes Welker. The Patriots have instead relied on the likes of lesser-known pass-catchers like Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Agholor and Damiere Byrd.
The Patriots have reason to temper expectations and avoid taking big swings at the position. Their last high draft pick at receiver, Arizona State's N'Keal Harry (the 32nd overall choice in the 2019 draft), only tallied 57 catches, 598 yards and four touchdowns over three seasons with the Patriots before he was traded to Chicago.
New England made minor waves last offseason when they acquired former Dolphins top pick Parker via trade. Parker finished with 31 catches for 539 yards and three touchdowns in his first season with the Patriots, a campaign marred by offensive inconsistencies that led to the removal of Matt Patricia, the Patriots' de facto offensive coordinator in 2022.
Bill O'Brien is back to run the Patriots' offense, but New England hasn't suddenly shifted its approach to team building, at least not outwardly. Hopkins is still expected to visit the Patriots, but we'll see if anything comes of it.
