DeAndre Hopkins: Arizona Cardinals 'stopped having faith in each other' in 2022
DeAndre Hopkins has an ax to grind against several teams in his GQ interview published on Thursday.
The former Arizona Cardinals star spoke about teams who passed on him in free agency this summer, his ability to still perform at an elite level at age 31, and reflected on why the Cardinals were so bad last season, finishing 4-13.
He said this summer was "probably one of the more exciting offseasons I've ever had."
It was apparently the most motivational for him, too. Hopkins, now in his 11th year, signed a two-year deal for $26 million with the Tennessee Titans in July.
“I’m very grateful for where I am, I think I made the best decision,” Hopkins said. “But when you’re a player and some people feel like they’re great without you, and then you see what they have on paper, or you see what they do, you mark those games down, as a competitor.
"I can't wait to play' em and, honestly, try my best to crush (them).”
Despite being the leader among all active wideouts in yards (11,298) and receptions (853), and dropping just three of 315 targeted passes over the last three years, Hopkins was released after three seasons with the Cardinals.
They couldn't find a trade partner to take on the hefty contract extension that he signed just months after he was traded from the Houston Texans to the Cardinals in April 2020. That deal lasted through 2024, and he was due $19.45 million for this season.
As the team is rebuilding under its new regime led by General Manager Monti Ossenfort and coach Jonathan Gannon, the Cardinals released him on May 30 to save over $8 million in cap space.
Hopkins claimed that he called several teams to shop himself in free agency this summer, but felt spurned in the process.
“Detroit Lions, they didn’t want me,” Hopkins said. “Dallas Cowboys didn’t want me. Giants didn’t want me. Who else ain’t want me? San Fran ain’t want me.”
None of those teams are on Tennessee's schedule, but it will match up against Hopkins' former team, Houston, in two AFC South divisional matchups.
Hopkins was drafted out of Clemson and spent his first eight seasons in Houston. Then he was sent in a blockbuster trade to Arizona for their former top running back David Johnson, a 2020 second-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick.
“It didn’t hurt me, as much as it hurt them,” Hopkins said about Houston shipping him off. Houston has been one of the league's basement dwellers since then.
“I've never really been a person who got up or down too much about what's going on around me, like with football, because I know once I get on the field, my play is going to speak for itself,” he said.
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There could be several factors why teams were reluctant to sign him this offseason or acquire him from the Cardinals.
One is that he served a six-game suspension in 2022. Last offseason, Hopkins tested positive for league-banned performance-enhancing drug ostarine. He still maintains his innocence from taking that substance.
In his return, Hopkins was still the Cardinals' leader in receiving yards, second in receptions behind Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, and tied Brown for second-most three touchdown catches behind Zach Ertz's four.
In addition, his age could've given pause for team executives who might view him as an aging veteran rather than a seasoned three-time All-Pro star.
“I don't look at age, but it's some of the reason some teams might've passed up on me. Their No. 1 DB would have a hard time against me on the island,” Hopkins said. “It ain’t too many people out there that can say honestly that they can lock me down, guard me for a full four quarters.”
Third, health has been an issue over the past two years. After playing mostly all his teams' games in his first eight seasons, Hopkins missed the Cardinals' last two games in 2022, and a total of seven the previous year because of hamstring and knee injuries.
“This is probably the best shape I've been in physically since I've been playing, since I came into the NFL from college,” Hopkins said.
The Cardinals went from their 2021 season's 7-1 start and what he projected as "our Super Bowl year in Arizona" to their second-half collapse that year to an abysmal 4-13 record a year later. Hopkins felt no one was locked during former coach Kliff Kingsbury's final year with the team.
“I feel like we stopped having faith in each other, as a team,” Hopkins said. “I feel like if the trust isn't there, it's hard to win games.”
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Similar to the Cardinals in 2021, Tennessee had a 7-10 record last year after its respectable 7-3 start, and lost to Jacksonville in Week 18 to clinch the division and playoff berth. But he believes in Tennessee coach and ex-Houston defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel.
“I wouldn't say it's because of Arizona, the reason I came here, to have that 360 switch, but I would say it was definitely part of my decision to be somewhere that did have a winning culture, or a fighting culture," Hopkins said.
He added, “What I love about Vrabel is that he keeps it real with you. He doesn’t care who you are.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: DeAndre Hopkins spites 4 teams for not signing him in free agency
