Ex-Cardinals GM Steve Keim on why DeAndre Hopkins hasn’t been traded: ‘The problem is his current contract’

A lot of times, it can be difficult to discern what an NFL general manager is really thinking. There’s a lot of incentive, even during press conferences and other public appearances, to obfuscate or otherwise mislead people. Once a general manager loses his job, though, there is less reason to hold things back. 

Enter former Arizona Cardinals GM Steve Keim, who let loose with some stuff this week. First of all, Keim was asked why Cardinals wideout DeAndre Hopkins has not yet been traded. Keim seemingly tried to push the blame onto Hopkins, but ended up blaming himself. 

“Here’s the problem: The problem is his current contract,” Keim said during an appearance on former NFL defensive lineman Chris Long’s podcast, per a transcription by arizonasports.com. “Hop was his own agent, and I can tell you that wasn’t the easiest (negotiation) in the world. Between him and Larry Fitzgerald, that put all the grey on my beard.”

If Hopkins’ current contract is the problem, that responsibility falls on Keim, as the one who traded for Hopkins and immediately lavished him with a contract extension that reset the market at the wide receiver position. It should, however, be noted that Hopkins’ contract is not that onerous, with base salaries of $19.45 million and $14.92 million over the next two seasons. That’s extremely affordable for a player of his caliber, and it seems highly likely that a trading team would want to rework the deal in some form or have the Cardinals pick up part of the tab for his salary (as the Texans did when trading Brandin Cooks to the Cowboys) anyway. Keim himself acknowledged all that as well. 

“They’re probably going to have to come to understand that they’re probably not going to get as much as they would if he was a younger player or his contract was considerably lower, where you could get him for a second-round (pick),” Keim said. “It could end up being a second- or third-day draft pick to really get it done. Probably (need to) get a new deal done.”