Only one way DeAndre Hopkins trade to the Steelers could work

The Pittsburgh Steelers need an efficient passing game and DeAndre Hopkins would help, but there’s only one way this team could make it work. 

DeAndre Hopkins is a trending topic around the NFL right now after the All-Pro receiver essentially waved goodbye to the Arizona Cardinals. Hopkins wants to be traded and it looks like the front office could oblige.

The most recent rumors suggest that the talented wide receiver wants to go to the Jaguars or Chargers — two teams with talented young quarterbacks and potentially high-powered offenses. It’s worth mentioning that he has a no-trade clause as well, so veto power is well within his control.

Of all the teams likely to throw their hat in the ring for DeAndre Hopkins, the Pittsburgh Steelers do not seem to be one of them. This past offseason, this team drafted WR George Pickens in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft and paid good money for Diontae Johnson — a move that hasn’t worked in their favor so far.

Realistically, there’s only one way that Hopkins could come to Pittsburgh, and I’m not convinced the Cardinals would go for it.

Steelers could acquire DeAndre Hopkins only with a Diontae Johnson trade

There’s simply no way that the Pittsburgh Steelers could justify spending good draft capital and elite money on a wide receiver with their current investments in the position. This team is barely in positive money right now when it comes to effective cap space for the 2023 season. However, Omar Khan could clear up roughly $35 million relatively easily with some no-brainer cuts early this year.

Still, pouring this much money into the wide receiver position is impossible when Pittsburgh has so many holes that need to be filled. Hopkins has a steep cap number of $30.7 million for the 2023 season. Fortunately, this is not what a team trading for him would have to pay. Instead, whoever is on the receiving end of a Hopkins deal would pay $19.4 million in base salary in 2023 and just $14.9 million in 2024, according to Over the Cap.

This is a relatively small price to pay for a receiver as talented as Hopkins, but that’s not including the draft capital that Pittsburgh would have to ship to Arizona. It’s also worth mentioning that Hopkins has expressed his interest in earning a rich new extension with a future team. This won’t come cheap, but it would give the Steelers some flexibility on how they structure his money.

Realistically, the only way a team like Pittsburgh could pull off a move this big would be to ditch Diontae Johnson’s contract in the process. Of course, this would require Arizona (or some other team) to take on his deal first. Johnson has already been paid in guarantees, so the receiving team would pay just $7.5 million on average over the next two years for one of the most targeted receivers in the NFL since 2019.

The draft pick acquired in a potential Diontae Johnson deal could be thrown back into a DeAndre Hopkins trade. Hopkins will turn 31 years old later in the offseason, but he still performed at a remarkable level following his suspension in the first half of the season.

There’s little question that Hopkins would be an improvement over Johnson, but this potential trade would take far too many working parts to pull off and just doesn’t seem reasonable. Having Hopkins would be excellent for the development of Kenny Pickett in his second season next year, but this is a trade the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t make.