With NFL training camps getting started, five big-name wide receivers remain available, and it would be six had one not found a landing spot recently and a new football career thus far.
That’s three-time first-team All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins, who recently joined the New England Patriots for training camp as a coach. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel explained the move on Friday.
“DeAndre Hopkins is here with us … just to kind of check things out as far as what he wants to do, as far as coaching. You'll see him on the field,” Vrabel told reporters.
Hopkins, 34, has been in the league since 2013, and he has been one of the game’s top receivers for years. That wasn’t the case last year with the Baltimore Ravens, where he had only 22 catches for 330 yards and two touchdowns.
Decline with age is part of life in the NFL, especially at skill positions such as wide receiver. That’s the reality for the other five big-name wideouts looking for teams.
Stefon Diggs
Stefon Diggs, 32, is fresh off a Super Bowl appearance with the Patriots, but the team released him this offseason amid his off-field legal trouble. That said, Diggs has been persistent on the free agency front, but there haven’t been any takers.
A four-time Pro Bowler, Diggs had 85 receptions for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns in 2025. He’s still a regular 1,000-yard wideout, and his only season not making that mark since 2017 came when he had an ACL tear in 2024.
Keenan Allen
Keenan Allen, 34, has made six Pro Bowls and has yet to find a new team after his second stint with the Los Angeles Chargers. He had 81 catches for 777 yards and four touchdowns last season as one of quarterback Justin Herbert’s primary targets.
Deebo Samuel
Deebo Samuel, 30, made first-team All-Pro and the Pro Bowl only once in his career, but he has long been considered a dynamic threat on the field. Most of that came with the San Francisco 49ers, but he also had a solid 2025 season with the Washington Commanders. He had 72 receptions for 727 yards and five touchdowns, plus 75 yards rushing and a touchdown on 17 carries.
Brandin Cooks
Brandin Cooks, 32, has enjoyed a solid journeyman NFL career with 734 receptions for 9,811 yards and 60 touchdowns. Cooks had a down year in 2025 with 24 receptions for 279 yards between his stints with the New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills.
Cooks last eclipsed 50 receptions and 500 yards in 2023 with the Dallas Cowboys, and he had eight touchdowns that year. He only had three scores in 2024, and he didn’t score a touchdown in 15 games for 2025.
Tyreek Hill
Lastly, there’s Tyreek Hill, 32, who is recovering from a major leg injury that included a torn ACL, multiple torn ligaments and a dislocated knee. Hill may not play this season—anywhere—but he has a lot left, based on what he did last time when healthy. In four games last year with the Miami Dolphins, Hill had 21 receptions for 265 yards and a touchdown, and he had 81 receptions for 959 yards and six touchdowns the year before.
There are teams out there in need of these men’s talents. The Commanders don’t have much talent beyond star wideout Terry McLaurin, and Washington is in win-now mode with quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Similarly for the Atlanta Falcons, there’s a talent dropoff after Drake London. The Falcons have Jahan Dotson, but he hasn’t surpassed 500 yards in almost three years.
While the Los Angeles Rams have Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, the Rams could use a strong third receiver. The Rams are very much in win-now mode with quarterback Matthew Stafford and the addition of defensive end Myles Garrett.
There’s certainly many other options for the free agent star wideouts as well throughout the league, and more opportunities could open up as injuries occur. That said, time is running out fast for Diggs, Allen, Samuel and Cooks to find teams before training camps are in full swing next week.
