DeAndre Hopkins is wasting away with the Arizona Cardinals

The best years of superstar DeAndre Hopkins are being wasted by an Arizona Cardinals team that can’t seem to get it right. 

Back in March of 2020, the Arizona Cardinals pulled off one of the greatest heists in the history of professional football. How general manager Steve Keim managed to acquire one of the NFL’s best wide receivers for next to nothing continues to baffle the league’s experts.

Unfortunately, the sensational DeAndre Hopkins is currently wasting away in the “Valley of the Sun”. Tune into any Cardinals game and you’ll see how special the talented wide receiver really is. Doesn’t Hopkins deserve better than an “Air Raid” offense that is failing to take advantage of his electrifying skill-set?

The answer to that question is a resounding yes. Since he returned from a six-game suspension back on October 20th, the 6 foot 1, 212 pound Hopkins has been almost impossible to cover. In his five appearances this season, the talented pass-catcher has hauled in an outstanding 45 passes for 487 yards and two touchdowns.

Arizona Cardinals welcomed DeAndre Hopkins back with open arms

Many Cards fans believed that the scoring attack would be pretty much unstoppable when Hopkins was back with his teammates. Since his return, however, the squad has emerged victorious in just two of the five matchups that the 30-year-old has competed in. The “Red Sea” was obviously hoping for much better results than that with Hopkins back in the lineup.

There’s a level of anticipation in the air for this coming Sunday when Arizona plays host to the Los Angeles Chargers at State Farm Stadium. For the first time ever, Hopkins and draft-day acquisition Marquise “Hollywood” Brown will be on the field together. Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has to be licking his chops at the thought of having that dynamic receiving duo to throw to.

Hopkins is under contract with “Big Red” for the next two campaigns, but his exorbitant salary-cap number will need to be addressed. The South Carolina native will count $30.75 million against the cap in 2023, a figure that drops to a still-inflated $26.21 million in 2024.

Hopkins certainly deserves to be performing for a playoff contender. At the same time, the Cards front office would be crazy to let him go. Let’s hope that Hopkins and Keim can agree on a new deal that will allow the future Hall of Famer to one day retire as a Cardinal.

(Statistics provided by Pro Football Reference and salary information provided by Spotrac.com)