Deandre Hopkins has just been traded to the Arizona Cardinals, along with a 4th round pick, for RB David Johnson, a 2nd round pick, and a 2021 4th round pick.
Reports suggest that the trade was inevitable, as Houston was not looking to extend Hopkins’ deal, after his current 3 Year / $40M expires. Bill O’Brien was looking for suitors throughout the whole combine, and clearly waited for the Cardinals to make a decision on RB’s Kenyan Drake, and David Johnson.
Here’s what this blockbuster trade means for the NFL
For the Cardinals, this is a huge win.
They benched David Johnson late in the season for recently traded Kenyan Drake, who proceeded to break out and solidify himself as the starting RB. This morning, the Cardinals used the transition tag on Drake, which meant that Johnson had no use to the Cardinals’ offense.
Arizona, who had been tied to draft Ceedee Lamb or Jerry Jeudy in the NFL draft, proceeded to trade for 1st-team All-Pro Deandre Hopkins, who is one of the top 3 Wide Receivers in the NFL.
The Cardinals now will pair up Hopkins with Kyler Murray, who I recently wrote an article about breaking out this coming season in a big way.
The Cardinals offense is a group to watch in 2020 with Drake, Hopkins, and Kyler in Kingsbury’s Air-Raid system.
The Texans have no idea what they are doing, and GM Bill O’Brien has done a terrible job as a general manager so far, despite having incredible talents to build around.
First, they traded an abundance of picks for Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills, and now they trade Deandre Hopkins for dirt cheap value.
When I saw that they traded D-Hop, I would’ve at least expected the Cardinals to give the 8th overall pick along with David Johnson and get value in return. However, the Texans managed to only get some mid-round picks along with a washed running back, who is 27 and way past his prime.
Johnson’s best days are behind him, and the contract that Houston is picking up is way too large considering his value.
This WR core went from elite to bad very quickly, only having three incredibly-injury-prone wideouts left in Stills, Fuller, and Coutee.
For the AFC South, this is incredible news.
Hopkins’ departure makes this division wide open for Indianapolis and Tennessee to take, and I expect those two teams to battle for the division title, while Houston spends January at home, having clinched a losing record.
For the NFC West, this is terrible news.
The Cardinals will now be a team to watch in the division, and will no longer be the punching bag of the division that they were for years before this trade.
However, seeing Deandre Hopkins face off against Jalen Ramsey (again) and Richard Sherman twice per year will be very entertaining, especially considering that they had an intense rivalry in the AFC South.
This is easily the most unexpected and wild trade since Khalil Mack was traded to the Bears, and it will surely impact the NFL for years to come.
