DeAndre Hopkins Trade Rumors: Odell Beckham Jr.'s Contract Hindering Market for WR

Even though DeAndre Hopkins has seemingly been on the trade block since the end of last season, the five-time Pro Bowler remains with the Arizona Cardinals in large part because of the money it would cost for a team to acquire him.

Appearing on SportsCenter, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler cited Odell Beckham Jr.'s contract with the Baltimore Ravens as a key factor holding up things for Hopkins:

"This is a name who's been percolating for a while now. This issue really is money. I've talked to multiple teams who believe a deal with Arizona is stagnant, there's not a whole lot going on because he's got that $19 million salary on the books. And I've talked to teams who think that Odell Beckham contract that happened a while ago is sort of a hindrance here for Hopkins because Odell Beckham got $15 million guaranteed, up to $18 million in incentives on a one-year deal. If you're Hopkins, you're saying: 'Hey, I'm more qualified, I've done a little more than Beckham. I can't take less than that, take a huge pay cut to go to a contender.' But you still have Buffalo, Kansas City, teams who could be looking for a receiver."

There was a feeling the Ravens overpaid Beckham when his deal was announced. It's a lot of money to guarantee a 30-year-old wide receiver who is coming off a torn ACL and has had injury issues throughout his career.

Hopkins has two years remaining on his contract with base salaries of $19.45 million in 2023 and $14.9 million in 2024.

There are only six teams with at least $19 million in cap space available, per Spotrac. The Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers are clubs in that group with an obvious need at wide receiver, especially if they want to provide support for their young quarterbacks, though neither has been connected to Hopkins.

The Buffalo Bills are one of the teams that has been linked to Hopkins throughout the offseason. Von Miller has said Hopkins wants to play for the Bills.

However, per Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News, the cap implications of trading for Hopkins are insurmountable for the Bills because they "would have to perform some serious salary-cap gymnastics to make his current deal work."

One potential option for any team that wants Hopkins would be to give him an extension that would lower his 2023 cap hit to facilitate a deal, but then you run the risk of buying big in his decline years as a wide receiver who will turn 31 on June 6.

The Cardinals have every reason to move on from Hopkins because they are in the early stages of a rebuild, but general manager Monti Ossenfort told reporters after the first round of the draft he didn't "foresee" a trade happening.

It's unknown if things have changed in the time since then, but it wouldn't make sense for Arizona to simply release a good player who could bring back something valuable to the team in a trade.

Hopkins only played in nine games last season but still finished with 64 receptions, 717 yards and three touchdowns.