No trade! Arizona Cardinals release DeAndre Hopkins

After three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, DeAndre Hopkins is looking for a new team.

The star wide receiver was subject to heavy trade speculation this offseason, but that’s not going to materialize. Arizona has opted to release him outright, per a team announcement on Friday.

Some financial details to go along with the news of his release:

The Cardinals will absorb a dead salary cap hit of $21 million in 2023, but he will be cleared from the books after that. (They could declare him a June 1 cut, which would allow them to spread the hit evenly over this season and next if they choose.)

Update: Hahahaahahahahahahahahahahahaa

Hopkins was famously acquired from the Houston Texans by the Cardinals in 2020, with Arizona only giving up running back David Johnson, a second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick in the process. In his first season alongside quarterback Kyler Murray he racked up a career-high 115 catches for 1,407 yards and 6 touchdowns, none more famous than the Hail Murray play.

Over the past two seasons, Hopkins has just 110 combined catches for 1,289 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s missed 15 games either due to injury or his six-game suspension for violating the league’s PED policy.

With the Cardinals in rebuild mode, it looked in recent months that Hopkins’ days in Arizona were winding down, and now it’s official but without any draft compensation coming back to the Cards. The 31-year-old may have something left in the tank on a team in playoff contention, and it’ll be interesting to see where he winds up.