Three DeAndre Hopkins Trade Destinations

DeAndre Hopkins has some of the best hands in the NFL and it appears he could be in a new uniform next season. Amidst a mini-blowup of the Arizona Cardinals, who need to find a new head coach and general manager, Jordan Schultz reports they will look into shopping Hopkins.

That report came yesterday. Today, Hopkins posted an Instagram that sure sounds like a farewell to Arizona.

As noted by Schultz, Hopkins has two years left on his contract and is owed $19 million in base salary next season with a hilarious $30 million cap hit. So any team that wants Hopkins will need the money to pay him right now and negotiate an extension with him to help ease the cap hit. Hopkins also has a no-trade clause, which means the Cardinals cannot simply sell him off to the highest bidder.

Even with those complications (and the PED suspension this year) there are many teams who would love Hopkins for their quarterback. Where might the former All-Pro end up?

Justin Fields desperately needs a No. 1 option more than anything. The Bears have the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. They will obviously not use that to trade for Hopkins but it seems likely they’ll trade the pick for even more picks which gives them plenty of assets to use in a Hopkins trade. The team has just about no money invested in any long-term contracts. Going after Hopkins would probably be frustrating after trading their own second-round pick for Chase Claypool and getting almost nothing from him but Hopkins is a much more proven commodity. If the Bears are serious about doing everything they can to help Fields succeed, landing Hopkins for a mid-round pick is a great step towards doing so. If the priority is getting paid, Hopkins would happily agree to this deal assuming Chicago is willing to pony up.

No receiving room in the NFL needs more help than the Giants‘ room. The fact that they made the playoffs despite Daniel Jones‘ top targets being Darius Slayton and Richie James is truly remarkable. Adding Hopkins would help Jones tremendously and give the offense the only thing they’re really missing– a legitimate deep threat that defenses must pay attention to. New York will be going after wideout reinforcements one way or another this offseason. Hopkins should be at the top of the wish list, if only because he makes life easier on his quarterback in a way few other receivers do thanks to his sticky hands. The Giants are an up-and-coming playoff team with a lot of cap space so a deal should be within reach for both sides.

This is not at all a Packers-type move but it does make a lot of sense. Christian Watson and, to a lesser extent, Romeo Doubs had good rookie seasons that indicate they can carry the bulk of the offense going forward no matter who is under center. But Green Bay is likely to lose Allen Lazard. Maybe Randall Cobb, too. And investing even more draft resources into wide receiver does not appeal to Brian Gutekunst. Trading for an established player guarantees a return on investment and might entice Aaron Rodgers to stick around for another year. Which the Packers should be very interested in doing because of the financial rut the QB will leave them in if he retires. Green Bay will be in the running but everything largely depends on the Rodgers domino and when it falls.