Ok so Hopkins...
1. In his prime, obviously an elite receiver. Four seasons with 100+ receptions. Three seasons with 111+ receptions. Four seasons with 1,300+ yards. Three seasons with 11+ TD receptions.
2. Not in his prime anymore. Last two seasons combined: 106 receptions, 1,289 yards, 11 TD.
3. BUT...that's mainly due to injury issues, not quality of play. But that's good news and bad news, right? The good news is that he's still really good. The bad news is that 2023 will be his age 31 season, so it's silly to expect that his injury issues will go away.
4. His rate stats are still good. Last two seasons: 66.3% catch rate, 12.2 yds/rec, 8.1 yds/tgt
5. BUT...are those numbers any better than Jakobi Meyers'? Not really. Jacob last two seasons: 67.6% catch rate, 11.1 yds/rec, 7.5 yds/tgt. And Meyers is four years younger.
6. Interestingly, Hopkins isn't that fast: 4.57 40 time. Meyers: 4.63. So yes a little faster than Meyers, but not much faster. Hopkins, as it turns out, is essentially a really, really good possession receiver. There's legit value in that - a guy who you KNOW can make the tough catch, who is uber reliable, who can run every route, whether outside or inside. He's just a good wide receiver. Really freaking good. BUT....he doesn't really blow you away, which is kind of crazy. I always thought he was much faster than he is. And at his age, he's even less fast than he used to be.
Would I want him on the Pats? I mean, yeah. Depending on how much of the cap he takes up, and how much the Pats need to trade away to get him. But there's definitely a price that's way too high for him.
Still, what would be crazy would be trading a second for Hopkins and a third for Cooks. That makes your WR corps Hopkins, Cooks, Thornton, Parker, and Bourne. That would be pretty awesome right there. PLENTY of weapons for Mac to work with. Obviously that won't happen and in fact, it's quite likely that the Pats wouldn't land either Hopkins OR Cooks, never mind both. But if they could get Hopkins, he'd help for sure.