Should Cardinals Be Looking to Trade DeAndre Hopkins amid Latest NFL Rumors?

It's only been three days since the Arizona Cardinals' 2022 season ended with a 38-13 road loss to the San Francisco 49ers. But it hasn't taken long for the franchise to undergo sweeping changes.

General manager Steve Keim has resigned, and head coach Kliff Kingsbury was fired, leaving the Cardinals to search for their replacements. Arizona will have new people in those positions entering the 2023 campaign, so things are sure to look quite different by the next time the team takes the field.

The roster could undergo plenty of changes, too. There are already rumors swirling about the Cardinals possibly trading one of their top players.

According to The Score's Jordan Schultz, Arizona plans "to try and trade" wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins during the offseason. Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell will be letting GM candidates know of that desire, per Schultz.

Hopkins, who has two years and $34.36 million remaining on his contract with Arizona, has a no-trade clause and "would have to approve of a final destination if a deal gets done," according to Schultz.

A 10-year NFL veteran, five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro selection, Hopkins has spent the past three seasons with the Cardinals. He played his first seven years with the Houston Texans, who traded him to Arizona in March 2020.

When on the field, the 30-year-old continues to have success. However, he was limited to 10 games in the 2021 season because of a hamstring injury and a torn MCL. In 2022, he played only nine games, as he missed the first six while serving a suspension for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing drug policy and then dealt with a knee ailment.

Over his three-year tenure in Arizona, Hopkins has 221 catches for 2,696 yards and 17 touchdowns in 35 games. He's the clear No. 1 wide receiver on the team and remains the top receiving target for quarterback Kyler Murray.

So, should the Cardinals really be looking to trade Hopkins? Their receiving corps, which also features Marquise Brown, Rondale Moore and Robbie Anderson, has the potential to be a strong unit when fully healthy.

Whether it's the best idea to move Hopkins could depend on the type of return that Arizona could get. The Cardinals have plenty of holes on their roster, and it may benefit them to acquire more draft capital and build for the long-term future.

Arizona already has the No. 3 overall selection in the 2023 NFL draft, but it owns only five total picks. The Cardinals still have their selections for each of the first four rounds, so adding more early picks could lead to them coming away from the draft with an impressive haul of talented prospects.

It may be tough for Arizona to be a contender without it making quite a few significant additions to its roster. Even though it's projected to have $33.668 million in available cap space for 2023, per Over The Cap, that could still be tough to do.

The Cardinals shouldn't give away Hopkins for nothing. But if they can acquire at least a couple of early draft picks, they may be wise to swing a deal, as they would also gain more financial flexibility in the process.