Did DeAndre Hopkins hint at Patriots trade interest on Instagram?

Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is on the trade block and his recent Instagram activity has Patriots fans believing he wants to come to New England.

So far in free agency the Patriots picked up JuJu Smith-Schuster after his Super Bowl run with the Chiefs along with tight end Mike Gesicki from Miami but they might not be done giving Mac Jones some new weapons.

The Cardinals are reportedly shopping wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and New England might be interested.

At the very least, Jones is. He followed Hopkins on Instagram and now the wide receiver has followed him back.

Did DeAndre Hopkins hint at Patriots trade interest on Instagram?

Does an Instagram follow back mean much of anything? Not really. Players follow each other on social media all the time without it resulting in anything.

Could Hopkins end up catching passes from Jones in 2023? Sure, you can’t rule it out. Instagram follows just aren’t going to be the ultimate indicator for it happening.

In this case, it’s even more complicated than if Jones was hitting up the Hopkins as a free agent who simply needed to decide where they wanted to sign. Hopkins is still under contract with the Cardinals. In order for him to land with New England, the two teams need to work out a trade.

Now that Brandin Cooks has been traded from the Texans to the Cowboys, we may have a clearer idea of what a trade for Hopkins could look like. However, it’s up to the Patriots to come to an agreement with Arizona.

There’s also no telling if Jones will even be the starting quarterback in New England this year. There have been plenty of murmurings that the Patriots aren’t sold. Who knows, maybe they have a different trade in mind with a quarterback in the crosshairs instead of a wide receiver.