DeAndre Hopkins Potential Destinations After Trade Request From Arizona Cardinals

After DeAndre Hopkins demanded a trade, numerous teams lit up needing a potential WR1 on their team. Find potential trade destinations for the Cardinals’ WR.

Trade Destinations for DeAndre Hopkins

The Arizona Cardinals imploded this past season, Kyler Murray got injured and they ended up with a new head coach and general manager at the end of the season too. Hopkins in general also served a six-game suspension during the season for a positive PED test. The Cardinals are looking to get cap space back and trading Hopkins would clear the team $8 million and if he gets traded after June 1st, then that number goes up to $19.5 million. With a rebuild on the horizon, trading Hopkins is Arizona’s best course of action.

So what ultimately happens with Hopkins? The prevailing thought is still that Hopkins will get traded and it’s just a matter of time due to negotiations with the NFL Draft coming up, the perfect time to pull the trigger on a trade revolving around Hopkins is coming up.

Also, while Hopkins and the Cardinals have a very good relationship, Arizona can send him anywhere they want because due to his PED-related suspension, his no-trade clause was waived.

New England Patriots

The Patriots seem to be the favorite to land Hopkins, even though Hopkins has a tense relationship with their new offensive coordinator, Bill O’Brien. The fit makes sense because New England’s offense was awful last year and the passing game was missing a consistent target. The biggest thing the Patriots have going for them in this trade is that Bill Belichick is still the head coach and is someone that could mold almost any player to fit the New England way, regardless of the relationship Hopkins has with O’Brien.

Kansas City Chiefs

The rich get richer in this situation. The defending Super Bowl Champs are in constant need of looking for new wide receivers for Patrick Mahomes to throw too. The Chiefs didn’t have a wide receiver that stood out this year after Tyreek Hill was traded away and Hopkins could help fill that void in one way or another. He would join Travis Kelce in a receiving corps that would immediately bolt to the front of the league in terms of talent. This would be a great match for the Chiefs if they can pull it off.

Tennessee Titans

The Titans are another team desperate for a boost in the receiving corps. They traded away AJ Brown last year and it hurt them a ton with Brown thriving in Philadelphia. He would immediately become the best receiver in Tennessee, with the only other receiver getting attention being their former rookie Treylon Burks, but he’s also coming off an injury too. This could be a good match, but the biggest issue would be who ends up being the quarterback because Tannehill was ineffective last year and got injured, and Malik Willis saw time but didn’t do much to inspire confidence when he saw time either.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns might be in the market for a receiver to team up with Amari Cooper to help Deshaun Watson even more. The Browns have a good receiving corps already with Cooper being the main option and Donovan Peoples-Jones being an underrated option out wide too. Adding Hopkins to that mix, would do nothing but help an offense that needs excitement after the team under-achieved as a whole last season. Deshaun Watson was also DeAndre Hopkins’ former quarterback in Houston, so that’s another reason to keep an eye on this trade.

Arizona Cardinals

This is a long shot, but Arizona could still decide to keep Hopkins to start the season. The connection between Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins has been electric and if they kept him the Cardinals would have a dynamic duo in the receiving corps with Marquise Brown and Hopkins. This seems like a long shot because of where it seems all of this is headed, but it’s something to keep an eye on, especially if teams think that Hopkins’ asking price is too much.

What the Cardinals Have Said About Hopkins

New General Manager Monti Ossenfort met with DeAndre Hopkins and said it was a “great conversation” according to Arizona Cardinals.com. He also went on to elaborate that any and all roster moves and changes like that were in the early stages. That’s changed now and it still seems like the Cardinals are being active in the trade market, trying to see what they can get for the still productive 30 year-old receiver.

New Head Coach, John Gannon, was also asked about DeAndre Hopkins recently at the NFL meetings and he said that he’s operating like Hopkins is a Cardinal as of now, according to the NFL Network.