On Tuesday, the New York Jets acquired WR Davante Adams in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders. Hours later, the Buffalo Bills landed WR Amari Cooper in a deal with the Cleveland Browns.
On Thursday, Hopkins was asked if he would be interested in a trade. Although the Titans are 1-4, he indicated he wouldn’t mind staying in Tennessee.
“I love my life, I love where I am,” Hopkins said, per Jim Wyatt of the team’s website. “God put me where I need to be, and he always will. I play football.”
The Titans don’t seem ready to hold a fire sale before the Nov. 5 trade deadline, either. On Wednesday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported, “Tennessee isn’t eager to deal [Hopkins] as of now.”
If the Titans changed their mind, WR-needy teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers and possibly the Kansas City Chiefs may be interested in the three-time first-team All-Pro.
On Thursday, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell suggested the Titans send Hopkins to the Chiefs for a 2025 fifth-round pick.
“This might not feel like a massive return for a veteran wideout with Hopkins’ history, but he didn’t have a huge free-agent market two offseasons ago, is older now, is battling a knee issue and is owed meaningful money over the year,” wrote Barnwell. “He wouldn’t have a huge market, but the Chiefs feel like the correct fit and would benefit from his strengths.”
However, keeping Hopkins makes some sense for the Titans. Second-year QB Will Levis — who has more interceptions (seven in five games) than passing TDs (five) — is struggling and needs reliable targets to turn his season around.
Through his first five games, Hopkins leads the team in receiving yards (175) and is second in receptions (14).
Hopkins is in the final year of a two-year, $26M deal. To make a trade work, the 32-year-old may need to restructure his contract, something he may not want to do.
While Hopkins will probably continue to be linked to other teams, it won’t be shocking if he stays in Tennessee.
Another Kansas City Chiefs WR dealing with injury ahead of Week 7
Titans grant three-time Pro Bowler’s release request on 29th birthday
Safety Jamal Adams is celebrating his 29th birthday on Thursday with a fresh start. The three-time Pro Bowl safety was granted his release from the Tennessee Titans on Thursday after recently requesting the move.
While he’s still on the right side of 30, Adams has struggled mightily to stay healthy in recent seasons, with his last Pro Bowl campaign coming in 2020. That capped off a stretch of three straight Pro Bowl years, but since then, he hasn’t played more than 12 games in a season.
The LSU product made up part of Tennessee’s top-ranked secondary in the NFL (685 total passing yards allowed entering Week 7) but was fighting for playing time behind the likes of starters Amani Hooker and three-time Pro Bowler Quandre Diggs, as well as backups Julius Wood and Mike Brown.
Adams appeared in three of the Titans’ first five games but only played 20 snaps with four tackles and hadn’t taken the field since the team’s Week 4 win against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 30. Tennessee placed Adams on the reserve/non-football injury list on Saturday (meaning he’d have to miss at least the next four contests) after he didn’t practice all of last week due to a hip ailment.
Adams missed the Titans’ Week 1 loss vs. the Chicago Bears because of the injury. The 2017 sixth overall pick signed a one-year deal with Tennessee in July, joining the squad’s revamped secondary that also includes offseason acquisitions in former Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Chidobe Awuzie and ex-Kansas City Chiefs star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed.
Could Braves make this improbable trade this offseason?
Has Teoscar Hernandez priced himself out of Dodgers’ plans in 2025?
It’s no secret that Teoscar Hernandez has been a key to success for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024. Will his success keep him from returning in 2025? Hernandez has said that he wants to stay with the Dodgers, but what he could command on the open market in the offseason may make that a difficult task.
After signing a one-year, $23.5 million deal with the Dodgers ($15 million of which he received this season and $8.5 million he will receive in 10 installments between 2030-39), Hernandez has put together a solid year, slashing .272/.379/.501 in 154 regular-season games.
Those 154 games were the most by any Dodgers player outside of Shohei Ohtani’s 159 games as the team’s designated hitter, proving just how durable Hernandez was in a season where injuries were problematic in Los Angeles.
Throw in 99 RBI and a career-high 33 home runs (both numbers second on the Dodgers only to Ohtani) along with an All-Star Game appearance and Home Run Derby title and it’s clear to see why Hernandez will likely not only be pursued by the Dodgers, but multiple other clubs as well.
Those pursuits are expected to push the price tag up significantly for Hernandez in 2024 and beyond. His salary jumped from $14 million with the Seattle Mariners in 2023 to this year’s $23.5 million, and it is projected that Hernandez could get a deal in the neighborhood of three years and $72 million this offseason.
Would the Dodgers be willing to commit to $24 million per season for Hernandez? They already have more than $176 million on the books for 2025, per Spotrac, and that’s before accounting for Clayton Kershaw’s expected return. That would make Hernandez the Dodger with the fourth-highest salary (behind Tyler Glasnow, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman) next season.
The Dodgers would not only have to commit to Hernandez in terms of salary, but also in terms of playing time as well. With Ohtani expected to be the team’s designated hitter again next season on days he won’t pitch, Hernandez would likely be locked into the left field slot for the length of his contract.
That would keep young players like Andy Pages (who is projected to develop into a corner outfielder) and Dalton Rushing (a catching prospect who transitioned primarily to left field after his promotion to Triple-A) from potentially making a bigger impact at the MLB level.
While Hernandez has played a pivotal role for the Dodgers this season, he has told reporters that there have been no talks of an extension. It will have to wait until the season is over, and offseason begins in which both Hernandez and the Dodgers will have tough decisions to make about their future paths and if they will converge again.
NHL Insider Believes the Maple Leafs May Already Have a Contingency Plan if Mitch…
Anthony Davis & Dalton Knecht Shine In Lakers’ Preseason Overtime Win Over Suns
The Los Angeles Lakers took on the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night in their penultimate preseason game. With the preseason finale coming Friday in the second of a back-to-back, the thought was that this would be a dress rehearsal with close to normal rotations for the Lakers.
LeBron James and Rui Hachimura were ruled out on the day of the game, however, so JJ Redick was already without two of his starters going into the game with others on minute restrictions.
The Lakers still played solid overall, coming back to earn a 128-122 victory in overtime. Anthony Davis was in the lineup for the Lakers and kicked things off with eight straight points, including a pair of rare triples, to give his team an 8-3 lead.
Davis didn’t stop there as he made two more 3-pointers, but Devin Booker had a nice response with one of his own to cut the Lakers’ lead to 20-18. Meanwhile, Austin Reaves got going offensively to end the first quarter, putting the Lakers up 35-30.
Reaves continued his hot streak into the second and joined Davis with as the leading scorers in the first half for the Lakers. The defense slowed down to end the second quarter though as Booker stayed hot, giving the Suns a 67-62 halftime lead.
The Lakers were clearly outmanning missing James and Hachimura while Booker and Kevin Durant did their thing offensively, but L.A. still hung in there for much of the third quarter.
Davis looked like he is ready for the regular season with D’Angelo Russell finding him for some easy buckets to give the big man 26 points through three quarters. With not much defense being played, the Lakers trailing 90-82 at the end of the third.
Davis actually stayed in for the first half of the fourth quarter and continued his dominance, finishing with 35 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block in 34 minutes. Despite Davis’ efforts and some nice outside shooting from rookie Dalton Knecht though, the Lakers found themselves trailing late.
They had a look in the final seconds trailing by three, and Knecht drilled another one with 4.8 to play to send the game to overtime. In the extra period, it was all Knecht as he continued pouring in 3s, both open and contested, to lead the Lakers to an impressive comeback win. Knecht matched Davis with 35 points, including 20 straight for the Lakers at one point, on 10-of-18 shooting and 8-of-13 from deep.
What’s next for the Lakers The Lakers will close out the preseason on Friday night against the Golden State Warriors on the road with the regular likely to sit out in the second of a back-to-back. They then open up the regular season at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
Patrik Laine Goes Public and Provides a Big Update on His Knee Injury
Radio host fires back at Jerry Jones following failed apology attempt
Things are going from bad to worse for the Dallas Cowboys and team owner Jerry Jones. After the Cowboys’ 47-9 home loss in Week 6 against the Detroit Lions, Jones made his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan’s “Shan RJ” show on Tuesday morning and blasted the radio hosts for their questioning style.
After getting roasted on social media for what many perceived as an unnecessary bashing, the 82-year-old attempted to explain himself to Dianna Russini and Jon Machota of The Athletic.
His apology (if one can call it that) fell short, and one of the radio show’s co-hosts fired back at Jones via social media on Tuesday night. Amid a 3-3 start (0-3 home record) and coming off his team’s worst home loss since 1988, Jones picked a brutal time to go nuclear on members of the Dallas media.
Despite being called “America’s Team” for years, the Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season. Since winning three championships in Jones’ first seven seasons with the organization, Dallas hasn’t returned to the Super Bowl (or even a conference championship contest) despite 13 playoff berths.
Things won’t get any easier for the Cowboys when they return from their bye, as they face the San Francisco 49ers (3-3) and Atlanta Falcons (4-2) on the road in Weeks 8 and 9.
Dallas will then host the rival Philadelphia Eagles (3-2) and Houston Texans (5-1) in Weeks 10 and 11 before going to the nation’s capital to play the Washington Commanders (4-2) in Week 12.
