Any possibility that the Jacksonville Jaguars would consider signing free agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was laid to rest Monday when head coach Doug Pederson dismissed the idea in a press conference.
“We’ve got a really good [wide receivers] room right now,” Pederson said. “It’s hard to add someone of [Hopkins’] caliber and his talent to a room that’s already talented. You know, you consider everything, but at this time it’s not a reality for us to bring someone like that in.”
The Jaguars wide receiving corps will add Calvin Ridley to the mix in 2023 after acquiring the former Atlanta Falcons first-round pick in a midseason trade while he was suspended in 2022. He’ll join a group that was led last season by free agent acquisitions, Christian Kirk and Zay Jones. The team also has return specialist Jamal Agnew and sixth-round draft pick Parker Washington on the roster.
Tight ends Evan Engram and Brenton Strange will likely see a significant chunk of targets from quarterback Trevor Lawrence, as well.
That’s a lot of mouths to feed, which is a nice problem to have for the Jaguars. Adding Hopkins to the mix could’ve pushed that not-so-bad issue into an actual concern, and spread the targets pretty thin.
In 10 NFL seasons, Hopkins has earned five trips to the Pro Bowl and has been targeted 1,368 times over 145 games (9.4 targets per game). His 11,298 receiving yards are 36th most in NFL history.
With the Jaguars currently owning about $12 million in salary cap space, it makes sense that the team isn’t considering spending a huge chunk of it on Hopkins.
