“What I want is stable management upstairs, that’s something I haven’t really had in the last two years of my career coming from Houston and then Arizona,” said Hopkins. “A QB who loves the game, a QB who brings everyone with him, not just himself but everyone around him…and great defense. Great defense wins championships.”
Hopkins, acquired in 2020 with a fourth-round pick for a second-round pick, running back David Johnson and a future fourth-round pick, has been excellent that first season. He had a franchise record of 115 catches for 1,407 yards and six touchdowns while earning second-team All-Pro honors.
His sophomore season, he missed seven games with a hamstring and then a knee injury, though he still scored eight touchdowns in 10 games on 42 catches for 572 yards. His third season was ruined before it even started when he was suspended for the first six games of 2022 after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
He played well in the nine games after his return, making 64 catches for 717 yards and three touchdowns, but his numbers suffered when the Cardinals suffered quarterback injuries and then Hopkins played the last two games of the season with concerns about his knee.
Hopkins had missed just two games in his first eight seasons.
With Hopkins gone, the Cardinals’ No. 1 receiver is now Hollywood Brown, with Rondale Moore, Zach Pascal, Greg Dortch and third-round pick Michael Wilson the next options on the depth chart.