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Could Giants pursue free agent WR DeAndre Hopkins after release from Cardinals?

Colin Martin
·4 min read
10
Nov 27, 2022; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers in the first half at State Farm Stadium.

After months of trade discussions, the Arizona Cardinals granted star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins his wish and released him on Friday afternoon.

Could the Giants make the most of this opportunity? 

The five-time Pro Bowler recently made it clear that he wants three things from a new organization: "Great management, a QB who loves the game, and a great defense."

"What I want is stable management upstairs," Hopkins explained during a recent episode of the "I AM ATHLETE" podcast. "I think that's something that I haven't really had the past couple years of my career coming from Houston to being in Arizona; I've been through three to four GMs in my career. … A QB who loves the game, a QB who brings everybody on board with him, pushes not just himself but people around him. I don't need a great QB -- I've done it with subpar QBs -- just a QB who loves the game like I do. And a great defense. I think defense wins championships."

When you look around the league there are a handful of NFL teams that check those boxes, including the Giants. So that begs the question, could GM Joe Schoen and Big Blue actually pursue the star wideout and give QB Daniel Jones a legit No. 1 WR?

Hopkins, who will turn 31 on June 6, signed a two-year, $54.5 million contract extension with the Cardinals in September 2020 that was scheduled to pay him $27.25 million per year for the 2023 and 2024 seasons and included $42.75 million guaranteed. The Cardinals will now take the entire $22.6M dead cap hit this season since the transaction is not a post-June 1 designation, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport notes.

Arizona had attempted to trade Hopkins, but due to his age, massive contract, injury history and six-game suspension in 2022 for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing drug policy, many interested teams were hesitant to make the move, according to The Athletic's Jeff Howe. Hopkins also skipped the Cardinals' first week of voluntary OTAs after they couldn't strike a deal with another team leading up to the NFL Draft.

Now that Hopkins has been released and taking on his hefty price tag is no longer a factor to acquire him, the idea of him in a Giants uniform is a bit more realistic. Although, there is still some work that would need to be done. For starters, New York has roughly $4.6 million in cap space, per Spotrac, and would need to make room to sign Hopkins. Potentially restructuring the big contracts of DE Leonard Williams ($18 million in base salary for 2023) or CB Adoree' Jackson ($11 million in base salary for 2023) could be a way for the Giants to afford Hopkins.

The other factor not in the Giants' favor is that Hopkins named the top five quarterbacks he'd like to play with while on the "I AM ATHLETE" podcast, and Jones wasn't mentioned. In order, Hopkins named the Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen the No. 1 QB he'd love to play with, followed by the Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Hurts, the Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes, the Baltimore Ravens' Lamar Jackson, and the Los Angeles Chargers' Justin Herbert.

An interesting layer to Hopkins potentially joining the Giants is his relationship with running back Saquon Barkley. The WR has posted pictures to social media of the two working out this offseason alongside former Giant Odell Beckham Jr. Barkley and Beckham interacted on Twitter on multiple occasions about reuniting in New York before the WR signed with the Ravens, so it's plausible that Barkley has already pitched Hopkins on joining the Giants.

Giants fans will now have to wait and see if Schoen can work some magic and convince Hopkins to sign with the team. He would give the Giants another upgrade in the passing game with new TE Darren Waller and immediately become the team's No. 1 WR over Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard, Wan'Dale Robinson, Isaiah Hodgins and rookie Jalin Hyatt.

Over his 10-year career, Hopkins has amassed 853 receptions for 11,298 yards and 71 touchdowns over 145 games. He became a household name during his seven years with the Houston Texans (2013-2019), but had some ups and downs during his three years with the Cardinals. Despite his lackluster numbers the last two seasons, it's clear Hopkins is still a top WR when healthy and can make a huge difference for whichever team he decides to join.