DeAndre Hopkins Not Released

[Woodman]

They have not yet officially released him, however. Apparently, the league made Memorial Day weekend a four-day break, with no transactions posted on Friday.

DeAndre Hopkins has not yet been officially released - ProFootballTalk

[Woodman]

Re: DeAndre Hopkins Not Released

This assumption is bolstered by the fact that the waiver requests initiated on Thursday have a claiming deadline not of Friday but of Tuesday.

Technically, then, the Cardinals could still trade Hopkins. It wouldn’t be the first time a team changed its mind about cutting a player when the news he was being cut sparked a belated trade market.

[Woodman]

Re: DeAndre Hopkins Not Released

The problem is that no one wants to take on his contract. He’d need to agree to a new deal, or the Cardinals would need to be willing to pay some of the salary, basically buying a draft pick.

It remains highly unlikely. But it’s still not impossible until Hopkins is officially released.

The far greater likelihood is that his release will become official at 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, at which time he’ll be able to sign with any team. It remains to be seen which team, when it happens, and what he’ll be paid.

[Woodman]

Re: DeAndre Hopkins Not Released

And unless the Cardinals decide to delay the move until Friday, the Cardinals will take a $22.6 million cap charge for 2023. They could, if they wanted, hold back $11.3 million this year by waiting until Friday, in the event they might want to spend it later.

They clearly don’t. They want to kick it all to 2024, even if there’s a chance that the cap space could be used for a veteran player who might become available later this year.

Which is evidence that they don’t really care about 2023. Otherwise, they’d keep extra cap space around. Just in case.

[Wally The Barber]

Re: DeAndre Hopkins Not Released

This is why I drink

[Bill Cody]

Re: DeAndre Hopkins Not Released

And unless the Cardinals decide to delay the move until Friday, the Cardinals will take a $22.6 million cap charge for 2023. They could, if they wanted, hold back $11.3 million this year by waiting until Friday, in the event they might want to spend it later.

They clearly don’t. They want to kick it all to 2024, even if there’s a chance that the cap space could be used for a veteran player who might become available later this year.

Which is evidence that they don’t really care about 2023. Otherwise, they’d keep extra cap space around. Just in case.

why would they care about 2023? They're about to lose 14 games

[Woodman]

Re: DeAndre Hopkins Not Released

This is why I drink

Yup!

[Woodman]

Re: DeAndre Hopkins Not Released

Cardinals officially release DeAndre Hopkins

Hopkins instantly becomes a free agent, able to sign with any team. All eyes will be on the Bills and Chiefs, who can both help themselves and hurt the other by acquiring Hopkins.
The Cardinals have helped themselves to a full $22.6 million dead-money charge by cutting Hopkins today instead of Friday, when a release would have split the cap hit between two years and created $11.3 million in cap space for the current year.
It’s clear evidence that the Cardinals don’t care about making the team as good as it can be this season. Otherwise, they would have kept the $11.3 million around in the event an opportunity to sign a difference-maker came up later. If not, they could could have rolled the full $11.3 million into 2024.