One of the best wide receivers in the NFL is now a free agent. On Friday, the Arizona Cardinals announced they have cut DeAndre Hopkins after being with the team for three seasons. He was slated to have a salary cap hit of $30.75 million this upcoming season, the highest among wide receivers and the seventh-highest overall, according to ESPN. Hopkins has been at the center of trade talks for months, but the Cardinals were not able to find a trade partner. Additionally, Hopkins has missed 15 of the past 26 games due to injuries and suspensions, and the Cardinals are resetting their roster with a new head coach and general manager.
Hopkins never said he wanted to leave the Cardinals but also didn’t publicly say he wanted to stay either. “What I want is stable management upstairs, that’s something I haven’t really had the past couple years of my career coming from Houston and then to Arizona,” Hopkins said on the I AM ATHLETE podcast this week. “A QB who loves the game, a QB who brings everybody on board with him, not just himself but everybody around him … and a great defense. A great defense wins championships.”
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Hopkins only played in nine of the Cardinals’ 17 games last season and caught 64 passes for 717 yards and three touchdowns. In 2021, the 30-year-old just played in 10 games and caught 42 passes for 572 yards and eight touchdowns. Hopkins was traded to the Cardinals in March 2020 after spending seven seasons with the Houston Texans. He made an immediate impact with the team that year, posting 115 receptions for 1,407 yards and six touchdowns.
The Texans selected Hopkins in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He made the All-Rookie team that season after catching 52 passes for 820 yards and two touchdowns. Hopkins then posted at least 1,100 receiving yards in five of his next six seasons, leading him to be named to the All-Pro Team and Pro Bowl four times. He was also selected as an All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl in his 2020 season with the Cardinals. In his career, Hopkins has tallied 853 receptions for 11,298 yards and 71 touchdowns.
