The New York Jets wide receiver depth chart looks much different in preparation for the 2023 season than it did at the end of the 2022 season. There is a chance that reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, Garrett Wilson is the only holdover that played a prominent role from last season.
Braxton Berrios was released and signed a deal with the Miami Dolphins. 2021 second-round pick Elijah Moore was traded to the Cleveland Browns after requesting a trade last season. There have been rumors about Corey Davis getting released to save the team some money against the salary cap and Denzel Mims could be on the move eventually as well.
In free agency, the Jets were active. Their biggest addition was Allen Lazard, who signed a four-year, $44 million deal. He left the Green Bay Packers in large part to rejoin Aaron Rodgers, who will have another familiar face in Randall Cobb in the fold. New York also signed Mecole Hardman, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs, to a one-year deal.
That is a lot of new additions, but the Jets seemingly weren’t done. They were linked to Odell Beckham Jr. before he signed with the Baltimore Ravens. More recently, they have also been talked about as a landing spot for DeAndre Hopkins.
Hopkins was released by the Arizona Cardinals last week after being on the trade block for a few months but no deal came to fruition. The Jets were discussed as a potential suitor, as people were connecting the dots after the Beckham pursuit. However, head coach Robert Saleh threw cold water on that idea during a recent press conference.
“No, we love our current group. I know there was some stuff with Odell, but other than that, we love our group.”
Adding a player of Hopkins’ caliber to your roster is something that should be discussed. It would be organizational malpractice to not at least do some due diligence on the situation. But, it was hard to imagine the Jets being a legitimate suitor.
Before his release, Hopkins provided a list of quarterbacks he would love to be teammates with. Aaron Rodgers was not among the players mentioned, as Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert and Patrick Mahomes made up his list.
Out of those five, the Buffalo Bills, Ravens and Chiefs have been mentioned most often as suitors. The Las Vegas Raiders are another team to keep an eye on. It would be a mild surprise if he didn’t land with one of those three franchises, but there are plenty of teams around the league who would love to bring him on board.
