Bills quarterback Josh Allen could use some help. And receiver DeAndre Hopkins could be the player to provide plenty of it.
DraftKings has installed the Bills as +300 favorites to be the team with which Hopkins takes his next snap, followed by the Chiefs at +400, the Ravens at +650, and the Jets at +750.
The fact that all four of the top teams are in the AFC suggests that Hopkins will become the next highly-talented player to defect from the NFC for the top-heavy AFC.
Hopkins could benefit from a bidding war among contenders. The team that gets him also keeps another team from getting him, increasing his value to one of the top AFC franchises. And whoever gets him will indeed experience a significant boost in perceived/actual prospects for the 2023 season.
This becomes one of the few opportunities that emerge every year for a team to roll the dice on a difference-maker, especially if that team will have to compete with the player if/when he signs with another team. It would seem to be exactly the kind of move for the Bills to make, if they truly want to box out the Chiefs and Bengals and get back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 30 years.
Hopkins, Stefon Diggs, Dawson Knox, and rookie Dalton Kincaid would give Buffalo an impressive array of pass catchers — and it would keep Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes from landing the kind of complement to Travis Kelce and Kadarius Toney that would position the Chiefs for yet another Super Bowl run.
So enjoy Memorial Day weekend, high-end AFC contenders. The three-day weekend begins with opportunity knocking on multiple doors. The one who rushes to answer will become more likely than previously believed to be ready to emerge from a cluster of franchises that will be vying to represent the conference in Super Bowl LVIII.