DeAndre Hopkins restructures contract to create cap space for Arizona Cardinals

For the Arizona Cardinals, things were tight heading into the 2022 NFL offseason.

Now, they have a little space to add some weapons to the team, thanks to DeAndre Hopkins converting some of his $10.65 million roster bonus into a signing bonus, creating a little over $7 million in cap space according to Field Yates of ESPN.

All this does is spread the overall hit of the money out over several years as opposed to paying the money to Hopkins on this years cap (Hopkins has the money, it is basically a book-keeping trick).

The Cardinals needed the money after their free agency spending spree yesterday, where they brought back a number of their own key free agents.

While many are looking at the lack of splash as a negative, I would say it is actually a nice change of pace for the Arizona Cardinals.

Coming off an 11 win season that ended poorly, the team understands that their main focus has to be on making sure depth is established for next season, not necessarily bringing in “better” talent.

Most of the teams competing for the NFC Championship did similar, looking at the Rams, Packers, and Buccaneers... Spending their initial free agency adding back their own talent.

Now, when the second wave of free agency hits and the veterans are on the market, the Cardinals should have a little wiggle room to maybe add a former Browns player or Rams player... no hints.