While Arizona Cardinals fans lamented the departure of DeAndre Hopkins, NFL teams are seeing something else. The Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, New York Jets, and Jacksonville Jaguars have made clear this the high-maintenance, low-return receiver is not in their plans. Only the New England Patriots have said publicly they might consider Hopkins, and the Tennessee Titans are currently the only team to officially bring him in for a visit.
The one-time bargain from the Houston Texans wore out another welcome in Arizona. Now for the second time in three years, Hopkins is moving on to another team. The Cardinals, who could not find one willing trade partner, cut bait on D-Hop. Nothing gained, nothing really lost.
DeAndre Hopkins Became a Player the Cardinals Could Do Without
Fans in Arizona had come to embrace Hopkins. Several players in the league love how he plays the game with reckless abandon. A take no prisoners kind or receiver who seemed capable of making the uncatchable, a dazzling completion. He made Kyler Murray look good by rescuing a few errant passes with his brand of acrobatics. He was “old-school”. A throwback to a time when players made their own deals and got rid of the middleman. DeAndre Hopkins managed to extract $54.5 million in a new deal from the Cardinals without the benefit of an agent.
Hopkins did not endear himself to the rank and file in Arizona. After finding a way out, the talented malcontent wasted no time in stating his favorite quarterbacks. These are the quarterbacks for teams no longer interested. As if that was not enough, he also name-dropped the franchises he would love to play for, noting everything from stability at the top of the organization, to a quarterback who could pull it all together. No Cardinals were ever mentioned in the mix of his latest wish list.
New GM Monti Ossenfort is learning the hard way. Talent aside, Arizona had no chance to get better with a singular ego bigger than the team. Hopkins was about Hopkins, and whatever worked for him didn’t have to work for the Cardinals. In the end, was all about everywhere else he wanted to play and who he wanted to play with.
More sideline arguments on the #Cardinals sideline with Kyler Murray.pic.twitter.com/5jiJyC3zZ0
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 6, 2022
Now, the pool of teams interested is getting smaller. What looked like a matter of days has stretched into a time frame likely not his to sign with a new team.
The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs are the only two teams to have seriously engaged Arizona in talks. The Lions, Green Bay Packers, and Houston Texans have the cap room for DeAndre Hopkins, with the Patriots the most logical destination.
At 31 years old, Hopkins may no longer have the swagger he once had when he came to Arizona. Intelligence moves quickly among general managers, meaning teams know the good and the bad. Hopkins will not be able to gaslight an organization as he segues into the latter years of his career. An MCL injury and a PED suspension make him damaged goods. For a player worrying about Hall of Fame credentials, the reality is quickly catching up to the legend.
The Cardinals are playing with a clean-slate heading into the 2023 season. It’s a fresh feeling in the facility as new faces emerge to create a new footprint. As Arizona collects draft picks, the slow turn to relevance picks up speed.
This is not DeAndre Hopkins’ kind of team anymore. The 2023 Cardinals are getting younger as a new regime takes over. With youth making up the bulk of this team, his toxic ‘me not we’ attitude would have poisoned the well. That will not fly anymore in Arizona.
Main Photo: Rob Schumacher – USA Today Sports
