Inside the Article:
According to the Arizona Cardinals, they have made a shocking decision regarding WR DeAndre Hopkins. On Friday afternoon, the Cardinals announced they have released Hopkins. So, after a plethora of speculation about which team would trade for Hopkins, he is now a free agent and will be able to sign with whichever team he prefers.
Key Points
- The Arizona Cardinals have sent shockwaves through the football world by making a surprising decision regarding star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
- While the Cardinals' decision to part ways with Hopkins brings relief from a significant financial burden, they will still face the weighty impact of a $21 million dead salary cap hit for the upcoming 2023 season.
- Throughout this entire saga, DeAndre Hopkins has remained enigmatic, neither openly expressing a desire to leave Arizona nor firmly committing to staying with the Cardinals.
Arizona Cardinals make shocking decision regarding WR DeAndre Hopkins
The burden of a weighty $21 million dead salary cap hit looms over the Cardinals' coffers for the 2023 season. However, hope resides in the fact that this financial millstone will eventually be lifted from their books. The option of designating him a June 1 cut presents itself as a viable strategy, enabling the team to distribute the blow evenly across the current and upcoming seasons, should they opt for such a path.
Throughout this tumultuous affair, Hopkins maintained a conspicuous silence regarding his desire to depart from Arizona. Yet, in equal measure, he refrained from expressing an explicit commitment to remain with the Cardinals. On numerous occasions during national interviews, he flirted with the notion of engaging with other teams or entertaining the thought of sharing the field with different quarterbacks who piqued his interest.
In recent days, a question was posed to Hopkins, one that sought to uncover the attributes he sought in a prospective team.
“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. “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.”
