When the Cincinnati Bengals were last making deep runs in the postseason, they had a core trio of stud wide receivers in Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd. The former two are still very much in their primes and form one of the NFL's most explosive passing attacks with Joe Burrow.
But the Bengals haven't quite found that successor to Boyd. Andrei Iosivas has been fine for the most part, yet he had a disappointing 2025 campaign. Rookie fourth-round pick Colbie Young shouldn't be counted on as a legitimate challenger to Iosivas, though he'll probably get a shot.
One three-time first-team All-Pro recently soft-launched his pitch to the Bengals, and it's a compelling one.
DeAndre Hopkins professes desire to play with Joe Burrow & Bengals should take him up on it
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, DeAndre Hopkins, who played for the division rival Ravens last season, spoke about his desire to catch passes from Joe Burrow. The question was about one quarterback he hasn't played with before who he'd want to.
"I think Joe is one of the best. I love his game, his toughness. He took his team to a Super Bowl early in his career, and I feel like he can get back there with a little bit of help."
.@DeAndreHopkins says he'd like to play with Joe Burrow 🔥 pic.twitter.com/aEJ5mXQMQv
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 2, 2026
That only adds fuel to the speculation that Hopkins is an avenue the Bengals could explore to upgrade their receiving corps. Hopkins has been around the block. He's no longer in his prime and shouldn't be viewed as some go-to guy.
That said, if you plug Hopkins into a lineup that already has Chase and Higgins, plus a precision passer like Burrow, all of a sudden he could produce in a big way. Hopkins had 22 catches for 330 yards in 2025. That healthy 15 yards per catch suggests the 33-year-old vet has something left in the tank.
All it took for Hopkins to sign in Baltimore last year was a one-year, $5 million contract with incentives adding an extra milly. Stands to reason it'd cost even less to bring him aboard in Cincinnati.
One could argue that acquiring Hopkins would be needless at a position of strength. One would be wrong. Higgins has had injuries throughout his career. Iosivas is inconsistent and ranked 116th out of 125 PFF qualifiers in receiving grades amongst wideouts this past season. Other members of the depth chart include the aforementioned Young, Charlie Jones, and Mitch Tinsley.
In other words, Cincinnati is one injury away from having some serious depth issues at receiver. Hopkins would go a long way toward alleviating that. Even if Iosivas somehow beat him out for the WR3 gig, "Nuk" is still a great presence for the locker room and a strong mentor to someone like Young.
Couldn't agree more with Hopkins, too. Burrow just need a skosh of help from his defense to get back to the Super Bowl. And a more capable, nay, near-league-average No. 3 receiver could go a long way toward making that happen.
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