The Arizona Cardinals will be without their star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins for the first six games of the regular season due to an alleged violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug (PED) policy.
Hopkins reportedly tested positive for a prohibited substance plus a diuretic or “masking agent” used to dilute, adulterate, or manipulate a test result. The banned substance that sparked the positive test is unknown at this time.
“DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals has been suspended without pay for the first six games of the 2022 regular season for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances,” an NFL spokesperson said.
“Hopkins is eligible to participate in all preseason practices and games. He will be allowed to return to the Cardinals’ active roster following the team’s sixth regular-season game.”
Hopkins has been regarded among the league’s best receivers since being a first-round selection of the Houston Texans in the 2013 NFL Draft out of Clemson. He is entering his third season with the Cardinals after being acquired from the Texans in a blockbuster trade.
Set to turn 30 on June 6, Hopkins has earned three first-team All-Pro selections and has been named to five Pro Bowls in his career. However, he is coming off an injury-riddled season that caused him to put up the lowest numbers of his career for a season.
He finished last season with 572 yards and eight touchdowns on 42 catches, a year after having 1,407 yards on 115 catches. Arizona went 3-5 in games without Hopkins, including a 34-11 blowout loss to Los Angeles in the playoffs.
He missed three games in the middle of last season with an ankle injury, and then he missed the final four games of the regular season and Arizona’s first-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams with an MCL injury. Hopkins underwent surgery to repair the knee in December. This season stands out as an anomaly, as through his first eight seasons in the NFL, Hopkins missed just two games.
Hopkins was Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray’s favorite target. The team lost his second-favorite target in free agency this offseason when Christian Kirk signed a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The suspension adds new context to Arizona’s Draft Day deal to acquire wide receiver Marquise Brown from the Baltimore Ravens. The Cardinals sent the Ravens the No.23 overall pick in exchange for Brown and a third-round selection.
Brown will now be expected to take on a significant role in an attempt to fill Hopkins’ absence for the first six games of the season. The Cardinals did not select a wide receiver in the draft.
The Cardinals, looking to bounce back from a season that started promising but ended in a disappointing blowout loss in the playoffs, will face a more formidable challenge without Hopkins.