The tank is on: Cardinals set cash on hearth with DeAndre Hopkins launch
After failing to discover a commerce, the Arizona Cardinals opted to launch star vast receiver DeAndre Hopkins, and are burning a bunch of cash within the course of.
The Arizona Cardinals have a brand new regime in cost with normal supervisor Monti Ossenfort and head coach Jonathan Gannon. Considered one of their first massive choices was to determine what they have been going to do with vast receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
Reviews indicated that the crew was occupied with buying and selling him, however had a excessive asking value. However as the times and months handed, a deal seemed to be much less and fewer probably. Because it seems, that evaluation was appropriate.
On Friday, the Cardinals announced that they were releasing Hopkins from his contract, making him an unrestricted free agent. When you thought the crew could be utilizing a post-June 1 designation on him, that isn’t the case.
Based on NFL Community insider Ian Rapoport, the Cardinals didn’t use a post-June 1 designation on Hopkins, which means that they are going to be taking up a full $22.6 million useless cap hit for this season.
Cardinals launch DeAndre Hopkins and tackle a ton of useless cash
NFL Community insider Tom Pelissero additionally clarified the Cardinals’ monetary state of affairs after Hopkins’ launch. Whereas the crew will tackle $22.6 million in useless cash, they’re liberating up roughly $7.39 million in cap house this season. To not point out that Hopkins will likely be off the books in 2024.
Pelissero continued in a separate tweet, saying that Arizona is now not on the hook for $19.45 million in money for this season, as Hopkins’ had no assured cash left on his contract.
With this transfer, the Cardinals at the moment are with out their prime vast receiver, regardless that he solely performed in 19 video games the previous two seasons. Arizona nonetheless has the Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Rondale Moore on the prime of its depth chart. However, the crew’s success will hinge on quarterback Kyler Murray, who’s working his manner again from a torn ACL suffered in Week 14 this previous season.
Secure to say, there should not lots of excessive hopes for the Cardinals within the 2023 season, with many projecting them to be the favorites to clinch the No. 1 general decide within the 2024 NFL Draft. That might put the Cardinals in an fascinating state of affairs, as the highest prospects in that class are quarterbacks Caleb Williams out of USC and Drake Maye out of North Carolina.
Can the Cardinals shock the world in 2023? Or will the tank really be on?
