Report: DeAndre Hopkins suspended to begin NFL season

According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins will miss the first six games of the 2022 NFL season thanks to a suspension. The Arizona Cardinals will now have to play nearly a third of the season without one of their biggest offensive weapons.

“Cardinals’ Pro-Bowl WR DeAndre Hopkins is being suspended six games for violating the NFL’s Performance Enhancing Drug policy, league sources tell ESPN,” Schefter said.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Hopkins was going to appeal but decided to withdraw from doing so.

Hopkins is entering his third season in Arizona after being traded from the Houston Texans. He and quarterback Kyler Murray developed a solid relationship instantly, becoming a top duo under head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Now, the duo will be without each other for quite some time, dating back to an injury late last season.

Since Hopkins arrived in Arizona, he has caught 157 passes for 1,979 yards and 17 touchdowns. Widely regarded as one of the top wide receivers in the NFL, a major hole will be in the middle of the Cardinals’ offense. However, Schefter explained in a later tweet how they plan to combat that.

Christian Kirk was another wide receiver name lost this offseason but to free agency. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and will be playing in the AFC. Add on a pending Hopkins suspension and general manager Steve Keim decided to make a move during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Schefter said the suspension now adds “insight” as to why they acquired Marquise Brown.

“Arizona is losing DeAndre Hopkins to a six-game suspension, it lost Christian Kirk to Jacksonville during free agency, and it adds more insight into the Cardinals’ draft-day trade for former Ravens’ WR Marquise Brown,” Schefter said.

The NFL has not released the 2022 season schedule yet. Exactly what teams Hopkins will not be playing against is not known at this moment. However, it’s still a significant portion of the year and when competing in the NFC West — including the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Los Angeles Rams — every game is going to count.

Arizona will be hoping once Hopkins serves his suspension and returns better than ever. Murray will now have him and Brown to throw at, creating one of the league’s top wide receiving cores. Kingsbury knows how to get points on the board and the job becomes that much easier with the weapons he has at his disposal.