The Arizona Cardinals are having an offseason of changes. One might include trading wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. With a new coaching staff coming and quarterback Kyler Murray expected to miss the start of the season recovering from his torn ACL, is is speculated that Hopkins might want out of Arizona and the Cardinals could seek a trade.
Trading a star receiver should not be that hard. However there are obstacles.
SI.com’s Albert Breer believes that the Cardinals might only be able to land a Day 2 draft pick for Hopkins.
Why?
Injuries and age
Hopkins has played in only 19 games over the last two seasons.
He missed six games with a suspension, the other nine were related to his hamstring and knee.
If you believe that Hopkins’ positive test for trace amounts of a banned anabolic substance, that might not be reason for concern. However, if there is a chance he did actually knowingly use a banned substance, it raises questions.
While he missed only two games in his entire career before 2021, he is one to miss practice time to maintain his health, and he has gutted out a lot of games with injuries.
He will be 31 years old before next season. Despite being an elite receiver, teams might see a Julio Jones-like decline coming. Age 31 was the beginning of the decline for Jones and A.J. Green.
Salary
Hopkins will make more than $19 million in 2023. None of it is guaranteed. His cap hit for a team acquiring him would be just the salary.
While that is a large cap hit, it isn’t even as much as the cap hit for Jacksonville Jaguars wideout Christian Kirk, whose contract will count $23 million against the cap in 2023.
Hopkins has a non-guaranteed $19.45 million due in 2023 and a non-guaranteed $14.915 million due in 2024.
Those are pretty decent numbers for one of the best receivers in the game.
What can the Cardinals expect to get for Hopkins?
The Cardinals got Hopkins basically for a second-round pick from the Houston Texans in 2020.
Could they get a first-rounder for him now?
That would depend. He will want to go to a contending team, so it would be a pick in the late first round. Depending on the desperation a team has — say the Packers are trying to convince Aaron Rodgers not to retire, would they give up their first-round pick? Perhaps.
But since the Cardinals got Hopkins for a second-round pick three years ago, getting one in 2023 wouldn’t be a terrible thing.
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