Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

While DeAndre Hopkins‘ demands for an extension or raise may have led to his ouster from Houston, it doesn’t sound like the star wideout is making the same requests from his new team. In a fascinating profile of Hopkins, Sports Illustrated’s Greg Bishop writes that the receiver isn’t “demanding” a new contract from the Cardinals.

However, the two sides are indeed discussing a new deal. In fact, there’s belief that Hopkins’ next contract could make him the “the highest-paid nonquarterback in the NFL.” That title currently belongs to Bears linebacker Khalil Mack, who’s earning $23.5MM per season. Falcons receiver Julio Jones is the highest-paid player at his position, taking home $22MM per season.

Back in 2017, Hopkins signed a lucrative five-year extension that includes $49MM in guaranteed money. Unfortunately for the star wideout, that contract soon became antiquated, and the remaining three seasons on the deal are non-guaranteed. In terms of average annual value, Hopkins currently ranks eighth among wide receivers.

Still, while his contract may be outdated, that’s not as much of a concern now that he’s playing for a new team. As Hopkins told Bishop, he had been looking to move on from the Texans for some time, and his desire for a trade was mostly due to his lack of a relationship with Texans head coach Bill O’Brien (who, Hopkins believes, was trying to trade him for more than a year). The receiver understood that “asking for a little raise would lead to the outcome…that I wanted.”

That premonition ended up becoming a reality. Back in March, the Texans sent Hopkins and a fourth-rounder to Arizona for running back David Johnson, a second-rounder, and a fourth-rounder.

The Texans have been roundly criticized for the DeAndre Hopkins trade, but head coach Bill O’Brien doesn’t seem to be having any second thoughts about the swap. In a virtual press conference with reporters, O’Brien defended the deal that brought running back David Johnson to Houston. 

[RELATED: David Johnson Passes Texans Physical]

“We feel very, very good about being able to get the 40th pick, being able to get David Johnson,” O’Brien said (via Reuters). “We feel really good about when we looked at the analytics of it, based on the production that was leaving our team and the production that we were bringing in, and then what we were able to do. Again, it’s very incomplete, and we have several roster moves left to go, including a draft and all the other things that I mentioned earlier. So we feel very good about the value that we got from the trade.”

The Texans didn’t stop dealing after that. Soon after shipping Hopkins to the Cardinals, they sent their original 2020 second-rounder to the Rams for Brandin Cooks while holding on to the No. 40 pick from Arizona. In short, they dealt one of the game’s most dangerous wide receivers for a lesser receiver with a history of concussions and once elite running back who has been slowed by multiple injuries. Fans in Houston are none-too-pleased, but O’Brien is asking them to be patient.

“I think the best thing I can tell the fans is to please — because I know the media’s job is to evaluate right away, I get that, I have a lot of respect for the media, I’ve always said that — but I think we have to let it all play out,” O’Brien said. “Let it play out. Let the whole thing play out, whether it’s that trade or anything else that we’ve done. I’d say let’s review it a year from now, two years from now, three years from now. Let’s let it all play out.”

In a “down” 2019, Hopkins still managed 104 catches for 1,165 yards and seven touchdowns. Johnson, meanwhile, carried the ball just 94 times and averaged 3.7 yards per try.

DeAndre Hopkins has passed his physical, James Palmer of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. That takes care of one official piece of business in the pending Texans/Cardinals trade, though we’re still waiting for word on David Johnson‘s exam. 

Although much of the focus has been on Johnson’s physical, the Cardinals also had to do their due diligence on Hopkins. The stud wide receiver underwent wrist surgery following the 2014 season and had a pin and rod inserted afterwards. Of course, the injury hasn’t slowed him down much – Hopkins has played in all but two of his possible NFL games since 2013. In that span, he’s racked up 632 catches, 8,602 receiving yards, and 54 touchdowns. Now, he’ll try to keep up the good work with Kyler Murray under center in Arizona.

The Johnson physical should be the last step towards the deal becoming officially official. For what it’s worth, both sides have expressed confidence in the trade going down.

“There’s no concern,” Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury told reporters recently. “Those (physicals) aren’t official as far as I know at this point, but we’ll get it done. There’s obviously — the medical field and personnel have much bigger fish to fry at this point. It’s been slower than it (normally) would be, but I have no doubts it’ll be done before the draft.”

Johnson, who has been hampered by knee problems, was healthy to close out the 2019 season. Still, the Texans will want to take an up-close look before signing off on the current terms of the deal. The swap sends Hopkins and a 2020 fourth-round pick to Arizona in exchange for Johnson, a 2020 second-round pick, and a 2021 fourth-rounder.