At 33 and the start of his 14th NFL season, DeAndre Hopkins knows the questions are coming. Is the tank empty? Is retirement looming? Is this really the end of one of the greatest wide receiver careers of the modern era?
Hopkins hasn’t been entertaining any of this.
“I am not retiring,” former Clemson star said bluntly on the Pardon My Take podcast. “I averaged 15 yards a catch last year, man.”
That single sentence will pretty much say what Hopkins stands as free agency approaches. He’s older, yes. He’s a veteran, absolutely. But he still believes — and has evidence — that he can beat top-flight NFL corners and be an asset. Hopkins spent the 2023 season with the Baltimore Ravens, signing a one-year deal last March to join an offense centered on Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.
And his role was no longer featured No. 1 receiver, but whenever the ball touched his hands, Hopkins made it count.
Over 17 games, he caught 22 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns on an average of exactly 15.0 yards per reception — a mark just short of his career high point from 2014. That number isn’t accidental. It’s of a player who clearly understands spacing, leverage, timing and how to get open when his pure athletic peak is gone. Hopkins isn’t selling nostalgia. He’s selling confidence.
That attitude has been the basis for Hopkins’ career since he was a Clemson player. He’s never been the fastest receiver on the field, but few have done it better than he — in contested catches and body control and late-career refinement. The skill sharpens as the explosiveness fades. And Hopkins says his hands — which have been the calling card of his entire career — might even be better now.
With free agency looming, Hopkins has shown his ability to get the job done in five different NFL franchises — Houston, Arizona, Tennessee, Kansas City and Baltimore — and accumulated 1,006 receptions, 13,295 yards and 85 touchdowns over 195 NFL career games. He is a five-time Pro Bowler, three-time first-team All-Pro and near lock on the Hall of Fame when his career finally ends.
Just not yet.