The reported release of five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins from the Arizona Cardinals became official on Tuesday.
Reports surfaced ahead of the holiday weekend on Friday that Arizona was going to release the star pass-catcher after failing to find a trade partner.
Now that Hopkins is on the NFL free agent market and able to sign with a team, we’re hearing some reports on the interest level.
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, said interest is “tepid” around the league. There’s also a pretty wide split on what teams believe Hopkins has left in the tank as he prepares to turn 31 in June.
“Not much. He can’t run anymore,” one team executive told Breer. Another unnamed team executive around the league indicated that Hopkins “still (has) great hands and isn’t “much of a deep threat” at this point in his career.
There did seem to be some interest in Hopkins when he was first made available during the spring. However, a near $20 million price tag for 2023 coupled with a PED suspension to open the 2022 campaign muted said interest.
Related: Ideal DeAndre Hopkins landing spots in NFL free agency
Right now, two AFC contenders in that of the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs are seen as favorites to land Hopkins. His former teammate with the Houston Texans, current Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson, also wants his team to make a play for the five-time Pro Bowler.
“Me and D-Hop, we just naturally talk. We’ve been talking since the Houston days, and whenever he was in Arizona, we were always talking. He’s always been a brother of mine since I was coming out of high school.
Our connection, our relationship has always been great. And I know there’s a lot of things swirling around in the media about him possibly coming to Cleveland. For me, my answer to that is, of course we’d love to have him.”
Deshaun Watson on DeAndre Hopkins
One would think there’d be more interest in a player of Hopkins’ ilk now that his salary is not an issue and with draft compensation thrown out the window.
With that said, we’ve seen a decline in Hopkins’ skillset since he was a member of the aforementioned Houston Texans earlier in his career.
DeAndre Hopkins stats (2022): 64 receptions, 717 yards, 3 TD
Hopkins was still able to put up these numbers in nine games after receiving a six-game ban for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing drug (PED) policy. Even then, his average of 11.2 yards per catch matched a career low. Hopkins’ average of 7.5 yards per target was a career low.
As for interest in Hopkins, the Chiefs had made progress on a deal with Arizona for him earlier in the offseason. However, the $15 million base salary Odell Beckham Jr. received on his deal with the Baltimore Ravens changed the dynamics a bit.
Considering OBJ didn’t suit up last season after suffering a torn ACL in February of 2022, Hopkins believed he should be worth at least that much.
At this point, Hopkins will likely have to lower his demands if he’s going to latch on with a team. The market just isn’t robust right now.