The DeAndre Hopkins situation is, first and foremost, a lesson in NFL economics. In the end, Arizona couldn’t get anything for the star receiver it made a blockbuster trade for three years ago—and that most certainly isn’t an indication that he can’t play anymore nor that he might not have value to another team.
It’s that he didn’t have value … at $19.45 million.
The Cardinals were never going to pay him that. Neither were the other 31 teams. So that left Arizona to put Hopkins on the trading block at the start of the offseason, and wait. And wait. And wait. The Cardinals gave other teams permission to talk to him and his representation (he technically doesn’t have an agent, but financial adviser Saint Omni speaks for him in negotiations). They kept taking cash off their asking price, and were even willing to buy a draft pick as part of it.
