Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes will be down an experienced weapon in the 2025 NFL season, with wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins leaving the Kansas City Chiefs to join John Harbaugh‘s Baltimore Ravens this offseason.
The wideout spent only a few months in Kansas City, where he couldn’t help Reid and Mahomes win a third consecutive Super Bowl. Harbaugh, however, admitted that he always thought that Hopkins belongs to Baltimore.
“He’s a guy that I’ve always felt like should be a Raven,” Harbaugh said of Hopkins, via Pro Football Talk. “That was always something I always kind of [thought when I] watched him play when we were playing against him. I felt the same way about Derrick Henry and Lamar [Jackson] when we saw him in college. But to see him now with us, in our building, working out already with the guys, it’s pretty cool.”
Hopkins signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Ravens at the start of free agency, hitting the open market as he finished the 2024 NFL season with the Chiefs on an expiring contract.
Hopkins’ brief stint with the Chiefs
Kansas City landed D-Hop via trade from the Tennessee Titans halfway through the campaign, giving up a 2025 fifth-round pick in an attempt to help Mahomes and Reid win another Super Bowl. The team made it to New Orleans, but suffered a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the big game.
Between his time with the Titans and Chiefs in 2024, Hopkins finished the year with 56 receptions for 610 yards and five touchdowns in 16 games. He also contributed with three catches for 29 yards and a TD in the postseason, but his partnership with Mahomes didn’t go exactly as expected.
A huge boost to the Ravens’ aspirations
Now, Hopkins will be looking to pursue a coveted championship with Lamar Jackson, another star craving for a Super Bowl ring. According to Harbaugh, the 32-year-old will be a perfect fit on the Ravens.
“I was in a parking lot in Tampa getting ready to go see my daughter play a lacrosse game, and we got on the phone, and I had a chance to talk to him about what his vision was for his future and what he wanted to accomplish,” Harbaugh said. “And amazingly enough, it aligned perfectly with the Ravens’ vision; it was right in line with what we’re trying to do.“