WR Hopkins skips Cardinals’ voluntary workouts

TEMPE, Ariz. — One notable player was missing from the first day of the Arizona Cardinals‘ voluntary workouts Tuesday under new coach Jonathan Gannon.

Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was working out 1,165 miles away at a gym in Houston while his current teammates gathered in the weight room at the Cardinals’ facility in Tempe, Arizona. When asked whether he expects Hopkins to join the Cardinals at any point during the voluntary portion of the offseason workouts, Gannon said, “We’ll see.”

“I’ve been in communication with D-Hop and I want to do what’s best for him and us at the same time,” Gannon said. “So, when he’s ready to come, he’ll come, and improve his game, too.”

Hopkins went live on Instagram during his workout while the Cardinals were simultaneously working out as a team.

Hopkins is a member of the Cardinals for now, but his future status with the team is up in the air. He’s scheduled to have a $30.75 million cap hit in 2023, which will be the highest on the team and has made him the center of trade speculation for weeks. The Cardinals reportedly granted him permission to seek a trade on his own. A trade would save the Cardinals $8.15 million in cap space but would leave Arizona with $22.6 million in dead money. However, either releasing Hopkins after June 1 or releasing him before that and designating him as a post-June 1 release would save the Cardinals $19.45 million in cap space.

Hopkins was just one of the distractions hovering around the Cardinals as they started their first day of work under Gannon.

Last week, former Cardinals executive Terry McDonough accused owner Michael Bidwill of gross misconduct, including cheating, discrimination and harassment. The team called McDonough’s allegations “wildly false, reckless, and an opportunistic ploy for financial gain” and cited “difficulties in his personal life and his often volatile demeanor toward colleagues” in a response to McDonough’s allegations.

On Tuesday, Gannon said he didn’t have a response to McDonough’s allegations.

“My sole focus is on improving our team right now,” Gannon said. “That’s not going to take away from my focus, any outside noise like that. I’m worried about the players right now.”

On top of the Hopkins chatter, the McDonough allegations and the NFL Players Association survey from early March that had the Cardinals graded second lowest in the NFL, there continues to be speculation about whether Arizona will trade the third pick in the NFL draft later this month.

Gannon said none of it has been a distraction.

“Honestly, that really doesn’t bug me at all because it’s outside of the building, so it’s not a distraction I spend any mental space on,” Gannon said. “It was good to have the players in today, you know what I mean? The best thing about this job is the players. So, anytime you get the players in, it’s like the icing on the cake.

“So, I’m excited about the next 10 weeks.”