GM Steve Keim: Cardinals want to address DeAndre Hopkins’ contract
Aug 28, 2020, 9:01 AM | Updated: 10:42 pm
Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins #10 of the Arizona Cardinals warms-up during a NFL team training camp at State Farm Stadium on August 25, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim reiterated Friday that the team has wanted, from the outset of acquiring wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, to address the contract of their blockbuster trade acquisition.
In joining Arizona Sports’ Doug & Wolf, Keim said he wouldn’t publicly discuss ongoing contract situations but repeated a sentiment the organization has expressed previously:
“You know it’s not my practice to talk about any negotiations publicly,” Keim said. “But I will say this: We made this crystal clear from the start, that we wanted to address his contract situation and certainly put him in a position that would respect how we think of him.”
Hopkins is currently on a deal that will pay him $12.5 million this year, $13.5 million next year and $13.915 million in 2022, according to Spotrac, but that money is not guaranteed. At the time Arizona traded for Hopkins in March, reports indicated that he wanted a contract restructuring.
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“I think when you look at DeAndre, he’s certainly somebody who’s playing at the top of his game and I know Steve has had some conversations about [his contract],” Cardinals president and chairman Michael Bidwill said on a conference call at the end of March.
Hopkins missed some of the Cardinals’ practices recently, leading to speculation that he was holding out for a new contract. That was quickly snuffed out by the man himself, who said, “No Deandre Hopkins is not holding out. From the source.”
No Deandre Hopkins is not holding out. From the source. https://t.co/ok0mrlunP8
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) August 18, 2020
The official word is that Hopkins missed practices earlier this month due to a tight hamstring.
“Calm down, it’s alright,” Keim joked with show host Doug Franz on Friday when asked about Hopkins not practicing. “I think every player has to know their body. The guy has certainly earned the respect of me and everybody in this organization. So we’re going to allow him to sort of get acclimated the way he needs to get acclimated.
“But in my conversations with everybody in the Texans organization, going all the way back to my college coach at Clemson who coached him as well, the one thing is about this guy that you need to know is there’s nobody that you want on your team on Sundays [more] than DeAndre Hopkins.”
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