Five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals had been the subject of trade rumors throughout the entire offseason.
After things failed to materialize on that end, the Cardinals have opted to outright release the 30-year-old pass-catcher in a cost-cutting move.
“After weeks of speculation and the Cardinals unable to find a trade partner, Hopkins was released on Friday. The Cardinals will absorb a dead salary cap hit of $21 million in 2023, but he will be cleared from the books after that.”
Arizona Cardinals press release on DeAndre Hopkins release
As the Cardinal noted, they will take on a dead cap hit of $21 million in 2023. The team can also designate Hopkins a post-June 1 cut, saving $19.45 million against the cap.
With Arizona going into full-scale rebuild mode under first-year general manager Monti Ossenfort, it stands to reason that it will take on the full dead cap hit in 2023 while clearing Hopkins from the team’s books after that.
DeAndre Hopkins career stats: 853 receptions, 11,298 yards, 71 TD
One of the better receivers in the NFL from 2014-2020 with the Texans and Cardinals, Hopkins has seen a downtick in production since. He caught 42 passes for 572 yards during an injury-plagued 2021 campaign in which the former Clemson star missed seven games. Hopkins was then suspended to open the 2022 season for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing (PED) policy.
Despite this, there’s going to be a nice amount of interest in Nuke on the free agent market. He’s still a quality starting receiver. Hopkins was asked recently what he’s looking for in a team, and that could have expedited his departure from Arizona.
“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,” DeAndre Hopkins told the Arizona Cardinals’ official website on May 22. “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.”