Getty Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Trade rumors involving DeAndre Hopkins continue to swirl and the Dallas Cowboys have been pegged as a potential suitor for the Arizona Cardinals star wide receiver.
Hopkins has been absent from the Cardinals’ voluntary organized team activities, which has sparked another wave of trade rumors.
Hopkins is a three-time First-Team All-Pro selection and has six thousand-yard seasons to his name. However, he’s coming off some rough years that have been hampered by injury and a PED suspension. He played in just nine games last season with the Cardinals, notching 717 yards on 64 grabs with three touchdowns.
Hopkins is 30 years old but should still have some productive years left in his tank. The Cowboys were identified as one of the top suitors for Hopkins if he’s traded by CBS Sports, noting his fit alongside CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks.
“They don’t necessarily need another big-money target with 2022 second-team All-Pro CeeDee Lamb headlining their group, but there’s a reason they traded a couple late-round picks to the Houston Texans for Brandin Cooks after flirting with Odell Beckham Jr. Adding a third proven route-winner like Hopkins to Lamb and Cooks would take pressure off of Michael Gallup as the No. 3, and when doesn’t Jerry Jones enjoy making a splash? The financials would be the biggest hurdle, but with many players entering the end of their rookie deals in the near future, the time is now for Dallas.”
Cowboys Fit What DeAndre Hopkins is Looking For
Hopkins hasn’t been at the Cardinals’ workouts but he has been making the media rounds. He recently appeared on the “I AM ATHLETE” podcast and listed what he’s looking at his next stop.
“What I want is stable management upstairs,” Hopkins said. “I think that’s something I haven’t really had the past couple years of my career coming from Houston and then to Arizona. I’ve been through three or four GMs in my career, so stable management. A QB who loves the game, a QB who brings everybody on board with him and pushes not just himself but everybody around him. … And a great defense. A great defense wins championships.”
The Cowboys check those boxes, especially when it comes to a great defense. The Dallas defense has been among the elite units in the league since Dan Quinn took over as defensive coordinator, led by Pro Bowlers Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs.
The Cowboys also have a franchise quarterback in Dak Prescott. He’s coming off a down year where he led the NFL in interceptions but the Cowboys are confident that he can lead them to a Super Bowl if they put the right ingredients around him.
Hopkins did not place Prescott on his wishlist of quarterbacks. That included Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts and Justin Herbert.
CeeDee Lamb Wanted Cowboys to Supply Dak Prescott With More Weapons
Dallas Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb says Dallas needs to “surround” Dak with more weapons if they want to take that next step
@nflnetwork
The Cowboys lacked viable wide receiver depth for a title run last season, with Lamb carrying the load. He set career-highs in catches (107), yards (1,359) and touchdowns (nine). Lamb sent a message to the front office this offseason, saying the Cowboys needed to surround Prescott with more weapons.
“You gotta surround (the quarterback),” Lamb told the Around The NFL podcast prior to the Super Bowl. “You go look at the Eagles, and they’ve got three receivers, a great tight end group, they run the ball well, the O-line is very phenomenal. You look at San Fran, they surrounded their quarterback and you get success ultimately. I mean we’ve got just as many weapons, but that extra player, all it takes is one. You can be so close to the Super Bowl and it can be a deciding factor.”
Hopkins could potentially be that “extra player” Lamb is talking about. With Hopkins on board, the Cowboys would have three high-quality options and are also expecting a bounce back year from Micahel Gallup, who was still dealing with the effects of his recovery from a torn ACL last season.