Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins doesn’t want a raise. Unless he does.
Hopkins tweeted on Sunday afternoon that he doesn’t want a raise. It made some waves, raised some eyebrows. Given that he has hired an agent, something he didn’t have when he did his most recent deal, it was believed that, in additional to wanting a new team, he wants a new contract. The tweet apparently put to rest the notion that he wants new money.
And then the tweet disappeared.
Yes, Hopkins deleted it. It’s gone. Evaporated. Kaput. Finito.
It’s unclear what it means, since he didn’t replace it with a new tweet. It’s just as if the last one was never there. Which justifies an inference that he actually does want a raise.
And there’s nothing wrong with wanting one. But that doesn’t mean he’ll get one. It’s been widely known that he’s available for weeks now, with no movement. And the impediment is believed to be that no one is willing to make a major financial commitment to a receiver on the wrong side of 30 with a recent history of missed games due to injury (in 2021) and suspension (in 2022).
For Odell Beckham Jr., it was a surprise to see him get at least $15 million and as much as $18 million. Hopkins is due to make nearly $20 million under his current deal.
While there’s less risk in trading for Hopkins, his upside is lower than Beckham’s, if Beckham truly can rediscover his form.
That’s a pretty big if, as to Beckham. It seems to be a pretty big if as to whether Hopkins gets a raise. His tweet from Sunday could be regarded as a recognition of that fact, And his deletion of that tweet could be regarded as the product of a directive from his agent to not concede that point, at least not yet.