Former Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins Absolutely Chased Money
Former Arizona Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins clearly chased the money, and he needs to stop pretending like other factors played a role in his free agency before landing with the Tennessee Titans.
Flash back to just a few days into the offseason, where rumblings first emerged the Cardinals were looking to move Hopkins. The now 31-year-old receiver was due $19.45 million in salary for the 2023 season and a rebuilding Arizona squad simply wasn't interested in shelling out that money.
Neither were other interested teams during trade negotiations. The Cardinals ultimately released Hopkins after teams were unwilling to take on Hopkins' salary considering his age and inability to stay on the field in recent years.
The Kansas City Chiefs reportedly had a deal in place with the Cardinals prior to the 2023 NFL Draft to land Hopkins for pennies on the dollar of his recent two-year, $26 million deal with the Tennessee Titans. When Odell Beckham Jr. got paid by the Baltimore Ravens, Hopkins backed off and demanded similar salary.
Even before Hopkins was a free agent, he stated winning and playing with an experienced, strong quarterback were the two most important things in his search for a new team.
Teams such as the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills were just some of the squads that showed interest in Hopkins. When the All-Pro receiver first hit the market, many believed it was "an arms race" between the top teams in the conference to get Hopkins on their roster.
Yet Hopkins ultimately settled for the Titans, one of two teams he physically visited with during free agency. His incentives can see Hopkins earn up to $32 million in the two years he's set to be in Tennessee, money 31 other teams simply weren't going to pay.
It's perfectly fine for athletes to chase money - their careers don't last forever and often times they're the provider for more than just themselves.
Yet Hopkins' insistence to chase a Super Bowl ring he wasn't able to grab in either Houston or Arizona fell flat when he signed with the Titans, who currently have a 7.5 projected win total for this season - far from the championship aspirations Hopkins so desperately wanted far away from the Cardinals for.
"For DeAndre Hopkins this was a long-winding road. There was the trade talks during the season, there was the trade talks after the season. ... They ended up releasing him. All he wanted was for a place where he could go win," said NFL Media's Ian Rapoport at Titans camp.
"The fact that he chose Tennessee - it was essentially New England or Tennessee, the two places that at least he visited, the fact that he chose Tennessee and they were willing to pay him a salary that was more than [inaudible] with his abilities of where he is, was telling to me because he thinks the Titans are going to be good."
It's silly to think Hopkins should have played for minimal salary - but it's also silly to pretend that he also truly valued winning a Super Bowl over everything else. If he truly did, he'd be in camp at either Buffalo or Kansas City.
