The Arizona Cardinals came to a long-awaited resolution regarding DeAndre Hopkins’ future with the team last week.
The Cardinals cut DeAndre Hopkins recently, which stripped their offense of their most dynamic player with nothing return besides salary cap relief. Rumors had followed Hopkins for months about his situation. Some reports had suggested the Cardinals are asking too much in exchange for his services, while others believe his market isn’t exactly strong.
In the end, they made the best decision for both sides.
New Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon attempted to explain the franchise’s thinking on the decision.
“Yeah, all the factors that were in play, we just felt it was the best thing for the team to play with who we have,” Gannon said. “I mean, it’s really no big deal to me. We were operating under the premise that he was going to be here. And now we’re not. So, we’re moving on.”
Now that Hopkins is gone, Arizona does not have a marquee name at receiver but Gannon still likes what he has on the team.
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“I’m very pleased with our receivers right now,” Gannon said. “We talk about with our guys is, if you carve out a role for yourself, we’ll use you in that role.
“Obviously, [Hopkins is] a great player. We didn’t have to play against him [with the Eagles] because of the suspension or whatever. But with the guys that we have on the team right now, they present some challenges to the defense with their skill sets. And that makes it tough from a defensive perspective because you can’t do certain things that you always want to do because of their skill set. So, I think just making sure we evaluate that with the guys that we have out there, getting the best 11 out there — who’s our one, two, three, four, five, six — and putting them guys in position to make plays for us and use their skillsets accordingly, I think we’ll be OK.”
It’s not like he really has a choice but to like it. The Cardinals did not have a receiver reach 1,000 yards last year, but Hopkins led the club with 717 yards receiving on 64 catches and that is with him missing several games due to suspension.
Marquise Brown added 67 catches for 709 yards with three touchdowns in 12 games. while Rondale Moore finished with 41 receptions for 414 yards with a TD in eight contests.
The Cardinals are facing a hard battle this upcoming season as they are looked at as a team that will be fighting for a high draft pick instead of the playoffs.
