Jaguars HC Doug Pederson on DeAndre Hopkins: Hard to add him to talented WR room

Most NFL teams could benefit from adding a player of DeAndre Hopkins' caliber to their wide receiver room. However, the Jacksonville Jaguars are stacked at the position, which is why it wasn't surprising to see head coach Doug Pederson shut down the idea of going after DHop.

Pederson met with the local media before the Jags' seventh Organized Team Activity of the year and said that they're not looking to sign Hopkins this time around due to the surplus of talent at wide receiver.

"We have a really good room right now, "Pederson said. "It's hard to add someone of his caliber, of his talent to a room that's already talented. We consider everything but it's not a reality for us to bring someone like that in."

Hopkins, a first-round pick in the 2013 draft, spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Houston Texans but was traded to the Arizona Cardinals in 2020. However, there's a new regime in the desert, one that didn't think the former Clemson Tiger was part of their long-term plans, so they tried to trade him in the offseason.

Although the Kansas City Chiefs and the Bills at one point emerged as potential suitors, they weren't willing to take the massive cap hit that came with trading for Hopkins, so the Cards decided to release him. Now a free agent, the three-time All-Pro wide receiver can sign with the club of his liking but a market hasn't materialized yet.

DeAndre Hopkins would've been an unnecessary luxury for the Jaguars

Hopkins has missed a few games over the last three years and he hasn't been nearly as productive as he was with the Texans. However, he's still effective and can give nearly every team a boost on offense. Having said that, there's no reasonable scenario in which the Jaguars were a legitimate landing spot.

Sure, the Jaguars could work around the cap and give Hopkins a contract that pushes most of the money to future years but the Jags are already loaded at wide receiver. After signing Zay Jones and Christian Kirk last offseason, they traded Calvin Ridley, who's been as good as advertised in OTAs. Moreover, the Jags are already budgeting to extend their own players in the not-too-distant future.

Even though there's not a clear timeline, the Jaguars might be looking to give Trevor Lawrence, outside linebacker Josh Allen and even Ridley a contract extension — not necessarily in that order — so they simply don't have the money to go after Hopkins. Last but not least, you could argue that Jacksonville should lock up Hopkins, so he doesn't land with the Chiefs or the Bills. While that might be doable in Madden, that's not something that really happens in real life, so it should be ruled out.

The bottom line is that the Jacksonville Jaguars might have to address a few needs before the 2023 season but receiver isn't one of them. They have one of the best rooms in the league and there's simply no need to sign Hopkins, regardless of how good he is.