Should Giants Pursue Receiver DeAndre Hopkins?
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The New York Giants currently have 14 receivers listed on their 2023 training camp roster, none of whom are considered a true No. 1 receiver.
While there is always a chance of one of them developing into a No. 1 -- after all, players have to start somewhere, right?--if the Giants want to give quarterback Daniel Jones another big-bodied target that is a proven No. 1 receiver, they need to look into signing newly unrestricted free agent DeAndre Hopkins.
The Arizona Cardinals released the 6-foot-1, 218-pound Hopkins on Friday after the failingd to find a trade partner for the 31-year-old. The move saves the Cardinals $8,911,114 on their cap and ends a tumultuous relationship with the receiver who had hoped to be traded earlier in the year.
Over the last two seasons, Hopkins has appeared in just 19 games for the Cardinals, playing less than 50 percent of the team's snaps in each of those two seasons. He recorded 106 receptions for 1,289 yards and 11 touchdowns in that span.
When healthy, Hopkins, who will certainly come at a much lower price than the $29,988,890 he was due to cost Arizona this year, is capable of much higher production. He has six 1,000-yard receiving seasons to his name, and before 2021, he had never played in less than 88 percent of any team's offensive snaps.
The Giants, who have been patient in their search for a No. 1 receiver, likely didn't want to part with draft assets to acquire Hopkins or any receiver for that matter. But now that Hopkins is a free agent, the Giants should call the receiver to see if he might be interested in coming on board.
Although the Giants have quantity at receiver, there are questions regarding the quality production the collective group might be able to yield. Parris Campbell, Isaiah Hodgins, rookie Jalin Hyatt, and Darius Slayton all figure to be locks for roster spots if healthy. Still, none of them have ever had a 1,000-yard receiving season nor drawn the kind of attention that Hopkins has in his career.
Wan'Dale Robinson and Sterling Shepard are both still recovering from season-ending injuries, and there is some question as to whether one or both will be ready to start the season.
Jamison Crowder and Jeff Smith could potentially round out the depth chart given their ability to contribute on special teams, but that's still a ways off yet to be settled.
In short, even if they were to land Hopkins for two years, the Giants would get an instant upgrade at the position. As an added benefit, whereas the Giants didn't want to part with trade assets to acquire Hopkins, if they were to sign him as a free agent, that could open the door a little wider for them to trade one of their younger receivers for future draft assets once training camp ends, thereby making this a win-win situation for all.
Whether Hopkins would want the Giants, though, remains to be seen. During a recent interview on the I Am Athlete podcast, Hopkins named his top desired destinations, the Giants not appearing anywhere in the top five.
New York currently doesn't have a ton of cap space. According to Over the Cap, they have $1.285 million of effective cap space (under the Top 51 rule) and $3.824 million in total space, both numbers barely enough to get them through the summer.
But the Giants could fire up some contingency plans to clear more space, starting with reaching a long-term deal with running back Saquon Barkley to lower his projected $10.1 million cap hit.
But seeing as that might not be coming to fruition, the Giants could also gain cap space by extending quarterback Tyrod Taylor ($5.45 million base salary), converting some of cornerback Adoree' Jackson's $11 million base salary into a signing bonus spread over the remaining years of the deal, and/or addressing Leonard Williams' $32 million cap hit.
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