Chicago Bears might not be a good fit for DeAndre Hopkins

On Friday, the Arizona Cardinals shocked the NFL world by releasing superstar wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins, who played the last three seasons in Arizona after being traded from the Houston Texans, was vocal in his request for a trade this offseason. After failing to find a trade partner over the past few weeks, the Cardinals elected to release Hopkins, taking on the entirety of the $22.6 million dead cap hit.

Hopkins Details Wishes for Next Team

Recently, Hopkins made comments on the I AM ATHLETE podcast, co-hosted by former Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall, where the then-Cardinals receiver detailed his wishes going forward. For his next team, Hopkins stated three things that are important when considering where he wants to play:

"What I want is stable management upstairs. I think that's something I haven't really had in the past couple of years... I've been through three or four [general manager]s in my career... A [quarterback] who loves the game... who brings everybody on board with him... and a great defense. I think defense wins championships".

Now, the Chicago Bears definitely seem to fill a couple of these requirements; they appear to have a quarterback who truly loves the game of football and a young general manager who seems to have relatively good job security at this point in time.

However, the Chicago Bears do not possess a championship-level defense just yet. While there were a number of additions made throughout the draft and the free agency window, there are still holes on that side of the ball, especially at the edge rusher position, which Hopkins noted as a key factor for a championship-level defense.

Hopkins also mentioned that he is not at the point in his career where he wants to work with a younger quarterback. While this comment seemed to pertain more towards a rookie quarterback, it may apply to a player like Fields, who has been great to start his career, but has little to show in terms of winning football (not that that is entirely on Fields whatsoever).

When asked about quarterbacks that Hopkins could look to play with if released, he focused on the upper tier of young, elite quarterbacks, including Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Justin Herbert.

Chicago Bears, DeAndre Hopkins Seem to Be an Unlikely Pairing

Conversely, the Bears may understandably not have a lot of interest in signing the veteran receiver. The Bears are clearly looking toward the future, and with one of the younger rosters in all of football, adding Hopkins may be an awkward move for a team who is not necessarily in win-now mode.

Additionally, with both Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool slated to become free agents following the 2023-24 season, there is already a lot that needs to be sorted out for the future in Chicago's wide receiver room.

Getting the best look at both of these players in order to determine their future in the Bears offense should be a primary goal for this season in the front office, and adding a player like Hopkins may muddy the waters so to speak for a team that already has three receivers that need a good volume of targets, including the recently acquired D.J. Moore.

While Hopkins doesn't appear to have a lot of interest in a team like the Bears, who finished with the league's worst record just a season ago, it might make sense for Chicago to pass on Hopkins with a more future-oriented direction for the franchise.