NFL fans blast Cardinals over being upset with DeAndre Hopkins missing final two games of the 2022 season

The Arizona Cardinals releasing DeAndre Hopkins easily became the biggest football story once the news broke. After all, it is not every day that a five-time Pro Bowler or a former NFL receiving touchdowns leader (2017) becomes available for free.

Even though he did not make the Pro Bowl last year, he had 717 yards in just nine games. Extrapolating it over a season would have easily have crossed 1,350 yards for another elite season.

So, it was surprising to many people when the Arizona Cardinals took that decision. Now, new reports have emerged that state many in the franchise did not take kindly to him sitting out the last two games of the previous season, even when he was healthy. It created a sticky situation for DeAndre Hopkins within the organization.

[Odegard] DeAndre Hopkins upset some in the Cardinals organization by sitting out the final two games of the 2022 season even though he was healthy, per sources. It may have been a sticky situation if he remained with the team until the trade deadline. by u/SerShanksALot in nfl

However, NFL fans were not buying that. Arizona had already been eliminated from any consideration for the post-season by that time and their head coach at the time was a dead man walking.

So, to use anything that happened at that time as something to hold over the player's head might not be wisest course of action.

Many fans on Reddit seemed to certainly share this view. Here is a selection of some of their responses:

Comment by u/iRockaflame from discussion [Odegard] DeAndre Hopkins upset some in the Cardinals organization by sitting out the final two games of the 2022 season even though he was healthy, per sources. It may have been a sticky situation if he remained with the team until the trade deadline. in nfl

Comment by u/Enterprise90 from discussion [Odegard] DeAndre Hopkins upset some in the Cardinals organization by sitting out the final two games of the 2022 season even though he was healthy, per sources. It may have been a sticky situation if he remained with the team until the trade deadline. in nfl

Comment by u/Responsible-Lunch815 from discussion [Odegard] DeAndre Hopkins upset some in the Cardinals organization by sitting out the final two games of the 2022 season even though he was healthy, per sources. It may have been a sticky situation if he remained with the team until the trade deadline. in nfl

Comment by u/SadCommandersFan from discussion [Odegard] DeAndre Hopkins upset some in the Cardinals organization by sitting out the final two games of the 2022 season even though he was healthy, per sources. It may have been a sticky situation if he remained with the team until the trade deadline. in nfl

Comment by u/SmokinGreenNugs from discussion [Odegard] DeAndre Hopkins upset some in the Cardinals organization by sitting out the final two games of the 2022 season even though he was healthy, per sources. It may have been a sticky situation if he remained with the team until the trade deadline. in nfl

Comment by u/Wapow217 from discussion [Odegard] DeAndre Hopkins upset some in the Cardinals organization by sitting out the final two games of the 2022 season even though he was healthy, per sources. It may have been a sticky situation if he remained with the team until the trade deadline. in nfl

Comment by u/swirls11 from discussion [Odegard] DeAndre Hopkins upset some in the Cardinals organization by sitting out the final two games of the 2022 season even though he was healthy, per sources. It may have been a sticky situation if he remained with the team until the trade deadline. in nfl

Comment by u/Shawn_Spenstarr from discussion [Odegard] DeAndre Hopkins upset some in the Cardinals organization by sitting out the final two games of the 2022 season even though he was healthy, per sources. It may have been a sticky situation if he remained with the team until the trade deadline. in nfl

Comment by u/JoeDirtsMullet00 from discussion [Odegard] DeAndre Hopkins upset some in the Cardinals organization by sitting out the final two games of the 2022 season even though he was healthy, per sources. It may have been a sticky situation if he remained with the team until the trade deadline. in nfl

Comment by u/JLifts780 from discussion [Odegard] DeAndre Hopkins upset some in the Cardinals organization by sitting out the final two games of the 2022 season even though he was healthy, per sources. It may have been a sticky situation if he remained with the team until the trade deadline. in nfl

What were the main reasons that the Arizona Cardinals parted way with DeAndre Hopkins?

For all the talk about ruffled Cardinals feathers, the decision to release DeAndre Hopkins makes business sense. By releasing a highly paid player like him, they save cap space in the future. Since they did not trade him, they still absorb a cap hit in dead money of $22.6 million.

But it goes to show that Arizona does not believe they can compete much this year. New coach, Jonathan Gannon, needs time to implement his vision and ideas. Kyler Murray is still recovering from his knee injury last season and is highly likely to miss at least a portion of the season.

Even if they had to make an unpalatable decision of forfeiting part of the salary cap for a player they chose to release, it was a risk they were willing to take.

Furthermore, DeAndre Hopkins played only nine games of the 17 last season. He chose to not participate in the final two. But the first six that he missed were not voluntary omissions. He was suspended for breaching the NFL's performance enhancing drugs policy.

All these factors combined for the Cardinals to take the decision to get rid of him. They have essentially written off the coming season and did not need a luxury player for this year.