DeAndre Hopkins has his deal, and the Arizona Cardinals have their star wide receiver for the foreseeable future.
The Cardinals and Hopkins agreed to a two-year extension worth $54.5 million with $42.5 million guaranteed, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The deal keeps Hopkins in Arizona for five years — through the 2024 season — and $94 million total, for an annual average of $18.8 million, meaning he’s likely to be the heir apparent to Larry Fitzgerald‘s role with the franchise.
The deal was first reported Tuesday by NFL Network.
The Cardinals landed Hopkins and a fourth-round draft pick in a March blockbuster trade with the Houston Texans, who received running back David Johnson, a second-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick. In acquiring Hopkins, the Cardinals also inherited his contract, which had three years remaining on the five-year, $81 million deal he signed with Houston in 2017.
Hopkins, 28, had been seeking a new deal at the time of the trade and reportedly was trying to restructure his existing contract with the Texans. Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said multiple times this offseason that the team hoped to sign Hopkins to a long-term deal and that the sides were engaged in ongoing talks.
Hopkins took to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, indicating his relief over the lucrative extension.
I can see clearly now the rain is gone. pic.twitter.com/F6JRljSFcs
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) September 8, 2020
Hopkins was scheduled to earn a base salary of $12.5 million in 2020, which was the sixth-most in the NFL this season behind Cincinnati’s A.J. Green, Indianapolis’ T.Y. Hilton, Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs, and Cleveland’s Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry.
Since being selected 27th overall in the 2013 NFL draft, Hopkins has put together a résumé that has early signs of being Hall of Fame-worthy despite having caught passes from 10 different quarterbacks.
Hopkins has the third-most receiving yards and catches, second-most touchdowns and most targets in the NFL since 2013. He also has the third-most receiving yards since 2017 with 4,115, behind only Atlanta’s Julio Jones and New Orleans’ Michael Thomas.
Hopkins had 1,165 yards and seven touchdown catches last season — his third straight 1,000-yard season and his fifth in six years.