Report: Bills headlining Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins’ trade market
Mar 23, 2023, 10:50 AM | Updated: 10:52 am
Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins #10 of the Arizona Cardinals catches the game-winning touchdown pass as safety Jordan Poyer #21 and safety Micah Hyde #23 of the Buffalo Bills defend during the final seconds of the fourth quarter at State Farm Stadium on November 15, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
The Buffalo Bills are looking into a potential DeAndre Hopkins trade with the Arizona Cardinals, reports KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson.
Wilson adds that the financial expectations surrounding Hopkins could impact the trade market for the wide receiver.
The report comes after Adam “Pacman” Jones while on The Pat McAfee Show said there were five teams interested in the wideout but that “Buffalo could work.”
The other four teams Jones mentioned were the New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders.
The Bills know all too well the type of playmaker Hopkins is after being on the wrong side of the Hail Murray in 2020.
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As for what compensation might look like in any potential trade, SI.com’s Albert Breer believes it will be closer to what the Houston Texans received — a 2023 fifth-rounder and 2024 sixth-rounder — in their dealing of wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the Dallas Cowboys this offseason than the second-round pick and more the Cardinals are hoping for.
Hopkins is coming off a 2022 season where he missed six games due to a PED suspension and two more thanks to knee issues late in the season.
That didn’t stop him from pacing the team in receiving yards (717) and ending up second in catches (64) and touchdowns (three) last season.
Still, 2022 marked the second-straight season where Hopkins played no more than 10 games. After missing two career games in the course of eight years, Hopkins has been on the shelf for 15 combined over the past two seasons.
Hopkins has two years remaining on his contract and carries a cap hit of $30.7 million next season before that number drops to $26.2 million in 2024.
If Arizona can move Hopkins before June 2, the Cardinals would free $8.1 million in cap space. They would, however, take a dead-money hit of $22.6 million.
A deal after June 1 would open up $19.4 million in space for 2023 and $14.9 million in 2024 while taking on a dead-money hit of $11.3 million in each of the next two seasons.
