DeAndre Hopkins fuels Patriots trade rumors on social media

The Patriots have been busy re-signing every defensive free agent this week and bringing in several new players to improve the offense. But, despite the good signings they’ve already made, fans can’t help but hold out hope that Bill Belichick will finally please them all by getting the trade for DeAndre Hopkins done soon.

Numerous reports throughout the last few months and during this first week of free agency have connected the Patriots to Hopkins. It has been said they have inquired about Hopkins’ trade price and have been in contact with Arizona over the last few days.

Now that they know what the Cardinals are asking in return, will we finally get Hopkins suiting up with the Patriots?

That is yet to be determined. However, there may be some hidden meaning behind some Patriots’ and Hopkins’ recent social media activity that could pique fans’ interest.

Usually, social media activity is not a reliable indicator of what a team or a player is up to and should never really be used to fuel speculation. But given the Mike Gesicki signing was announced on Friday, after two days of internet sleuths revealing the following activity of Mac Jones and Gesicki, etc., on Instagram, there may be legs to their social media actions.

On Wednesday, a Patriots fan shared on Twitter that Mac Jones began following Hopkins on Instagram. Some took that as a possible sign that the quarterback knew something was in the works that just hadn’t been revealed yet, but no trade has been made in the days since.

Then on Thursday, another New England fan posted to their Twitter page that Hopkins followed Jones back on Instagram, fueling the speculation even more.

Sure, it’s more possible this is just a random “you followed me, so I followed you back” scenario. But isn’t the timing a little bit too convenient?

If the reports are accurate that the Patriots have been actively looking to trade for a big-name receiver, this speculation could become a reality. We all know how much respect and admiration Belichick and Hopkins have for one another, and maybe the receiver has put his previous feelings regarding Bill O’Brien behind him and is open to making the move to Foxboro. So the trade wouldn’t be a complete surprise.

At the same time, to play devil’s advocate, all of these “clues” could just be wishful thinking. The team does have the cap space to take on Hopkins’ contract, and the move would be a significant help to Jones and the offense, but maybe we should be patient and see how things go before getting too excited over things like social media followings.