Getty New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner smiling in the middle of an NFL game.
The New York Jets lost out on its pursuit of free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
That hasn’t stopped Sauce Gardner from trying to bring some new talent to the team in 2023.
He tweeted on Wednesday, April 12, “me & Dhop [DeAndre Hopkins] had a great talk when I was in Dallas last week.”
Jets Are Interested in Making a Deal for Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated confirmed the Jets would have interest in making a run at Hopkins “conditionally.”
“That is, I think the Jets are going to do everything they can to go all in around Aaron Rodgers the way, say, the Buccaneers went all in around Tom Brady over the past three years, but they’ll try and do it with some intelligent restraint, as Tampa Bay did.”
Breer then pointed to the recent OBJ case as a perfect example to explain his theory. He said the Jets were “absolutely in” on signing Beckham. However just not at the price of “$15 million for a single year.”
Hopkins has two years left on his contract through the 2024 season. Breer said the cash across those two seasons is $15.09 million in 2023 and $19.45 million in 2024.
That is very similar to the money OBJ received and Breer said the Jets “balked” at that price tag.
He left the door open for a potential Cardinals-Jets trade if it reaches a “suitable price point.”
Hopkins has a long track record of success and Breeer said he could be a guy that can “draw coverage open” for some of the other players on the Jets’ offense.
“So if the Jets can get Hopkins to work with them on the money,” Breer articulated in a column posted on Wednesday, April 12. “I could certainly see this happening.”
DeAndre Hopkins Skips out on Cardinals Voluntary Workouts
The Cardinals opened up its voluntary offseason programs on Tuesday, April 11 and one notable name was absent.
New Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon was noncommittal when asked if he expects D-Hop to join the team at some point during voluntary programs, “we’ll see.”
Josh Weinfuss who covers the Cardinals for ESPN categorized Hopkins’ future with the team as “up in the air.”
According to ESPN this offseason Arizona “granted him permission to seek a trade on his own” but nothing has come of it so far.
The eventual trade price will be affected by his age (will turn 31 this offseason), his inability to stay on the field (missed 15 games last two years), and his lack of commitment to practice all the time.
Gang Green has a rich history of acquiring veteran wideouts with some level of baggage on the relatively cheap.
In 2009 they traded a third, a fifth-round draft choice, and two veteran players (Chansi Stuckey and Jason Trusnik) to acquire Braylon Edwards from the Cleveland Browns.
Back in 2010, the Jets traded a fifth-rounder for Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl hero Santonio Holmes.
Then most recently the Jets sent a fifth-round draft choice to the Chicago Bears for veteran wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
Sometimes in life, you have to risk it to get the biscuit. Gang Green has been willing to dabble in those waters before and could choose to do so again in 2023.