The Arizona Cardinals’ first optional practise under new coach Jonathan Gannon on Tuesday was absent one important player.
While his current colleagues gathered in the weight room at the Cardinals’ facility in Tempe, Arizona, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was exercising 1,165 miles away at a gym in Houston. Gannon said, “We’ll see,” when asked whether he anticipated Hopkins joining the Cardinals at any time during the optional part of the summer training.
According to Gannon, “I’ve been in contact with D-Hop and I want to do what’s best for him and us at the same time.” Thus, when he is ready to arrive, he will do so and up his game as well.
While the Cardinals were also working out as a team, Hopkins broadcast his exercise live on Instagram.
Hopkins now plays for the Cardinals, but it’s unclear what will happen to him after that. Due to his projected $30.75 million cap hit in 2023, which will be the most on the club, he has been the subject of trade rumours for many weeks. He allegedly received authorization from the Cardinals to make his own trade requests. A trade would free up $8.15 million in cap space for the Cardinals but leave Arizona with $22.6 million in lost revenue. The Cardinals could save $19.45 million in contract space by either releasing Hopkins after June 1 or before that date and designating him as a post-June 1 release.
As the Cardinals began their first day of work under Gannon, Hopkins was just one of the distractions that surrounded them.
The owner of the Cardinals, Michael Bidwill, was accused of serious misbehaviour last week by former Cardinals employee Terry McDonough, including cheating, discrimination, and harassment. In response to McDonough’s accusations, the team referred to them as “wildly false, reckless, and an opportunistic ploy for financial gain” and underlined “difficulties in his personal life and his often volatile demeanour towards colleagues.”
Gannon said on Tuesday that he was unable to address McDonough’s claims.
Right now, I’m just concerned about making our team better,” Gannon said. Any outside noise like that won’t distract me, I assure you. Right now, I’m concerned about the players.
There is still talk about whether Arizona may trade the third selection in the NFL draught later this month, in addition to the Hopkins rumors, the McDonough claims, and the early March NFLPA poll that rated the Cardinals as the second-worst team in the NFL.
None of it, according to Gannon, has been a distraction.
Since it’s outside the building, Gannon said, “that really doesn’t bother me at all. It’s not a distraction I spend any mental space on.” “You know what I mean when I say that having the guys here today was good? The players are the finest aspect of this profession. Therefore, once you bring in players, it’s like the cherry on top.I’m thus eager for the next ten weeks.
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