Should the Buffalo Bills go all-in to land WR DeAndre Hopkins?

On Wednesday, March 22, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network listed the Buffalo Bills as the number-one landing spot for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins still has two years left on his contract with the Arizona Cardinals but there have been rumors flying since the end of the season that his time in Arizona could be coming to an end. The question is, should the Bills be interested in him?

The problem is two fold. The first factor to consider is obviously his contract. Hopkins is set to make over $19 million this coming season and has cap hits of $30 million and $26 million for the next two seasons. It’s clear that his contract would need to be reworked if he was to come to a place such as Buffalo. Concerning a contract, a tweet by Spotrac laid out what it might cost Hopkins’ new team.

Factor two is what compensation it would cost for the Cardinals to make the deal. Last season we saw the Philadelphia Eagles trade for star receiver A.J. Brown using a first-round pick and a third-round pick. The difference of course is age, with Brown only 25 years old while Hopkins turns 31 this summer. When general manager Brandon Beane traded for Stefon Diggs it cost them a first-round pick and three more picks.

Setting aside those factors, it seems clear that Hopkins would add great value to the high-powered Bills offense. After missing the first six games of the season due to a suspension, Hopkins still had over 700 yards in only nine games. If you were to pair him with Diggs, teams would be forced to leave at least one of them in one-on-one coverage. The added attention to those two guys could even pave the way for someone such as Khalil Shakir to have a huge season. In every season of his career, Hopkins has averaged over 11 yards per catch — and even today, he always has home-run potential.