Monti Ossenfort is now in charge, and with his arrival came rumblings of a potential trade involving Hopkins. Although nothing has materialized to this point, Hopkins remains away from the team, working on his own in Toronto and awaiting new developments.
It doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to be headed elsewhere. Ossenfort has remained positive in his comments regarding Hopkins’ future in the desert. Hopkins said he doesn’t have an issue with the Cardinals, either.
“For me, no,” Hopkins said when asked if his relationship with the club was fractured. “I have no ego. This is a business. This is a professional sport. People have jobs to do. Obviously, there is a new regime. There’s new head coaches, new GMs. They come in and out every year on sports teams.
“For me, understanding and knowing the business, I can’t go into it with an ego. Hearing rumors of me being traded or shopped around, that does nothing for me as far as making me feel some kind of way towards that team.”
The thought of trading Hopkins revolves around extracting maximum compensation for an All-Pro receiver who remains under contract. Arizona is headed toward what the club hopes will be a rapid rebuild, but Hopkins’ career timeline doesn’t quite fit that. He turns 31 in June and has two years left on his deal, including 2023. Hopkins is made to play for a contender, not a team that needs to retool before entertaining a pursuit of a title.
Instead of keeping Hopkins on a roster that likely won’t have Kyler Murray available for a significant portion of the 2023 season, Arizona could move him for valuable assets best used to aid its rebuild. It makes plenty of sense — it just hasn’t happened yet.
A trade might not happen. But with his honesty, Hopkins is taking a no-nonsense approach to his current situation and hoping for the best.
“Phoenix is home. Phoenix is where I have been the last three years of my life,” Hopkins said. “I enjoy being in Phoenix. Working out there has no emphasis other than that’s where I am, that’s where I live. It’s not me going on a campaign, doing anything other than working out.”