DeAndre Hopkins Implies Salary Isn’t Reason for Friction With Cardinals

The Arizona star took to Twitter to weigh in on the trade speculation.

Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins appeared to make it abundantly clear that money isn’t the root of the friction between him and his team as trade rumors swirl. 

“‘Hopkins doesn’t want a raise,’ - Nuk,” Hopkins posted Sunday on Twitter. However, he later deleted the tweet.

“Nuk” is a nickname given to him by his family when he was a baby, and it appears he resorted to referencing himself in third-person to tackle the speculation head on. Hopkins signed a two-year contract extension in 2020 worth $54.5 million that runs through the 2024 season. With an average annual value of $27.275 million, Hopkins currently is the third-highest paid wide receiver in the NFL, behind only Miami’s Tyreek Hill and Las Vegas’s Davante Adams. 

Hopkins, 30, is coming off a season in which he tallied 64 catches for 717 yards and three touchdowns in nine games. He missed the first six games of the ’22 season while serving a suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy.

This isn’t the only development on the trade front, though. During an interview on the All Things Covered podcast this week, the five-time All-Pro was posed a unique question. Four different NFL teams were presented to him, and he was asked to react to each of the potential trade destinations only with body language based on his preference.

Based on his reactions, the Patriots and Jets aren’t favored. However, the wideout appeared intrigued when the Chiefs and Bills were mentioned.