Hopkins has long been in the rumor mill for the rebuilding Cardinals
After months of rumors, it seems like DeAndre Hopkins is staying in Arizona.
The rebuilding Arizona Cardinals will likely not have much success this coming season and could trade the five-time All-Pro receiver in order to continue to build for their future.
Quarterback Kyler Murray is also likely to miss a bulk of the season while he recovers from a torn ACL, so the writing is on the wall for Arizona to continue a rebuild and acquire draft capital for when Murray returns in 2024.
The Cards actually made a flurry of deals on Thursday, one of which resulted in acquiring a 2024 first-round pick, but none of them involved Hopkins, and it doesn’t look like any other future moves will, at least in the short term.
When asked whether he would trade Hopkins during the ongoing NFL Draft, general manager Monti Ossenfort all but shut it down.
“I don’t foresee that happening,” Ossenfort said Thursday night. “I don’t know what is going to happen here in the next couple days. Right now, I don’t foresee that happening, no.
“DeAndre’s a Cardinal, and we’re moving forward.”
The Cards acquired Hopkins before the 2020 season in a trade with the Houston Texans (whom they also traded with Thursday night in a blockbuster deal involving picks). In his first season, he caught 115 passes for 1,407 yards and six touchdowns. His next two seasons were filled with injuries and a PED suspension, but in 19 games in the last two seasons, he racked up 106 catches for 1,289 yards and 11 TDs.
Arizona began Thursday night with the third overall pick, but the team traded down to 12 with Houston, who had just selected second. Later on in the evening, the Cardinals moved up to six and grabbed offensive lineman Paris Johnson.
Hopkins has two years remaining on his deal with the Cardinals, and is owed $54.5 million.
