The Arizona Cardinals are paying a hefty price to release wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
After speculation that the Cardinals could trade Hopkins around the 2023 NFL Draft, the team stunned the NFL on Friday by releasing Hopkins outright and took on his full $22.6 million dead cap salary hit for the 2023 season.
By releasing Hopkins with nothing to show for it but an empty roster spot, Arizona has moved further away from any potential it has to contend in 2023.
No team in the NFL is ever going to say they’re trying to tank, but the Cardinals sure look like a team that might be trying to tank — further evidence by Friday’s move dropping their season win total line from 5.5 to 4.5.
Think about it. If the Cardinals are the worst team in the NFL this fall, it’ll position them to take USC quarterback Caleb Williams, assuming he’s still the favorite to go first overall next spring.
Williams has been hyped up as the next great quarterback prospect, and the Cardinals have a new regime in place with general manager Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon.
Oddsmakers clearly have no faith in Arizona, and it’s hard to blame them when they’re releasing players as talented as Hopkins is with no return to show for it.
The Cardinals also will have the Houston Texans’ first-round pick next year, which could position them to take a blue-chip talent to pair with Williams (or another quarterback).
The team does have quarterback Kyler Murray on a massive extension from the previous regime, but there would probably be a number of NFL teams willing to send Arizona a handsome draft haul for Murray next offseason.
The Cardinals would take on an outrageous $46.2 million cap hit in 2024 through a trade, but consider that the Atlanta Falcons just did roughly the same thing by trading quarterback Matt Ryan in 2022 and eating roughly $40 million in the process.
A new regime looking to completely rebuild the franchise around 2024 draft picks could be willing to part ways with Murray and reap a draft windfall in the process.
You never know in the NFL how things go, and maybe the Cardinals surprise everyone and push for more wins than what oddsmakers are expecting right now.
However, they’ll rest in the NFL’s basement until further notice. This already looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL on paper with Hopkins, and Arizona is certainly worse off without him.
This looks like a franchise willing to do whatever it takes to rebuild, and perhaps a franchise that’s not all that concerned with winning games in 2023.
