How can the New England Patriots help quarterback Mac Jones? With strong kickoff returners. Or as Rob Gronkowski advises: with DeAndre Hopkins.

Jonathan Gannon didn’t go out of his way to talk down the trade rumours surrounding DeAndre Hopkins. The new Arizona Cardinals head coach confirmed at the Combine that he wasn’t sure if the top receiver would be on the Cards’ 2023 squad.

Hopkins himself kept a similarly low profile on the “Pat McAfee Show” this week. He’s had his experiences with basically ruling things out.

“I’ve been traded before and had heard speculation about it, but I dismissed it and said, ‘No, the Texans would never trade me.’ And all of a sudden, here I am with the Cardinals,” said Hopkins, who has been with the Glendale-based franchise since 2020.

Rob Gronkowski: The recipe for success for Mac Jones

If Rob Gronkowski has his way, no one needs to lay low anymore. Instead, the New England Patriots should strike and make the trade for Hopkins stick.

“That’s the guy I say has to go to New England, that they have to get,” Gronkowski told “Boston.com. “A veteran receiver like DeAndre Hopkins – that would be the best opportunity for Mac Jones to have success with Billy O (new OC Bill O’Brien), Hopkins and a first-round pick or maybe a second- or third-round pick at receiver.”

It’s important to note: O’Brien and Hopkins worked together in Houston from 2014 to 2020, and O’Brien was the Texans’ head coach during that time.

The next Gronk advice to his ex-team: get talent, talent, talent and grind. Or as the former tight end puts it specifically, “Get some receivers out of the draft and then chase them down in OTAs during the summer to get everybody up to speed and build chemistry so they can deliver.”

Above all else, the trade is for Hopkins. “I can definitely see them making a play like that,” Gronkowski said.

DeAndre Hopkins: Two years left on contract

Hopkins’ contract runs for two more seasons, he would earn $19.5 million this season and $14.9 million in 2024. Last season he missed six games due to a doping suspension and two more due to injury. In the remaining nine games, the 30-year-old totalled 717 yards and three touchdowns.