4 reasons DeAndre Hopkins should sign with the NY Giants

In a stunning turn of events, the Arizona Cardinals released star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins on Friday. The five-time Pro Bowler and three-time First Team All-Pro member will now be on the free agent market, briefly bringing back the NFL's free agency frenzy.

The Cardinals are in the middle of a rebuild and had been attempting to trade Hopkins, but could not find a taker for his behemoth contract. Arizona will incur a massive $22.6 million dead cap hit in 2023 for releasing Hopkins.

Virtually all 2023 playoff-caliber teams will enter the bidding war for Hopkins. For the first time in his career, Hopkins will get to pick his next team. I couldn't fathom saying this last offseason, but I will say it now: Hopkins should pick the New York Giants. Here are four reasons why:

4. The New York market

If you are a star player, and you want to make a lot of money, New York is the place for you. You can make a ton of money both on the field and via endorsement deals off the field. It seems star athletes have recently discovered this philosophy.

In the last five years, major athletes in the sports industry have joined New York franchises. This list includes Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Jalen Brunson, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Francisco Lindor, Gerrit Cole, Patrick Kane, Aaron Rodgers, Darren Waller - the list goes on.

All of those athletes at one point were the talk of the town. Hopkins could follow suit. The Giants are a strange team in that they really do not have "the face of the franchise". The quarterback is generally the face of a football franchise, but Daniel Jones is soft spoken, and does not have a big, electric personality. Saquon Barkley is the same way and plays one of the least valuable NFL positions: running back.

If Hopkins joins the Giants, he could quickly become the face of the Giants. In their September 2022 update, Forbes ranked Big Blue as the fourth most valuable franchise in the world (tied with the Yankees) at $6 billion. That is an opportunity Nuk Hopkins can not turn down.

3. The Giants can give DeAndre Hopkins everything he wants

Hopkins recently joined the popular I Am Athlete podcast with Brandon Marshall, Ashley Nicole Moss, and Corey Holmes. During the podcast episode, Hopkins laid out exactly what he was looking for in his next team:

The Giants can grant Hopkins all three of his wishes. It's fair to question Danny Dimes' play, but you cannot question his love for the game or desire to win. Jones is in the Giants team facility and weight room year-round. The quarterback always shows max effort when on the field (sometimes too much effort). Jones recently organized an offseason training workout with 20 teammates in Arizona, including Waller, so they could all develop chemistry before training camp starts, to ensure Big Blue's offense hits the ground running come mid July.

The Giants have a very underrated defense led by Wink Martindale, a defensive mastermind who has a championship pedigree. The defensive line position has become a premium position in the NFL. The Giants have a very strong defensive line, especially the interior defensive line. In fact, ESPN's Mike Clay recently ranked the Giants interior defensive line as the best in football.

Finally, for the first time since Tom Coughlin was in charge, the Giants have very stable management. Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll are here for the long run. Both are beloved by their players, and seem to be beloved by Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch.

2. Hopkins can be the focal point of the New York offense

Many of the suitors linked to Hopkins already have star wideouts. Buffalo has Stefon Diggs, Dallas has CeeDee Lamb, Baltimore has Odell Beckham Jr. and rookie Zay Flowers (the Ravens also run their offense through Mark Andrews), while the Jets have Garrett Wilson.

Hopkins would instantly become WR1 in New York. The Giants have strong complementary wideouts in Darius Slayton, Isaiah Hodgins, Jalin Hyatt, Parris Campbell Jr, Sterling Shepard, and Wan'Dale Robinson, but most of those wideouts profile as WR2 and not WR1.

The minute Hopkins steps foot in the tri-state area, he would instantly become the focal point of the Giant offense. Last offseason, Philadelphia traded for Tennessee wideout AJ Brown, adding the star to a strong wide receiver room that needed a WR1.

The Giants are in a similar spot. The G-Men have a very strong wide receiver room, but still need an alpha. Brown caught 88 passes for 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022 for Philly, and helped lead the Birds to just their fourth Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. Hopkins can have that type of impact in 2023 for Big Blue. He would instantly rebuild his brand and be looked at as one of the NFL's premier receivers again.

1. Daniel Jones and DeAndre Hopkins would work wonders together

Jones signed a four-year, $160 million contract extension with Big Blue for a reason. He is a franchise quarterback.

Jones’ 2022 season was revolutionary. Danny Dimes set career highs in completions, passing yards, average yards per pass completion, passer rating, QBR, rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, games played, and fourth-quarter comebacks. The Giants quarterback also set a career-high in passing attempts while posting the fewest interceptions and fumbles of his career.

Hopkins stated he wanted to play with an elite quarterback. Jones posted the league's sixth-best QBR in 2022. QBR is a statistic that measures a quarterback's overall performance. His sixth-place finish indicates he is a borderline elite quarterback. Jones posted a better QBR than Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott, Trevor Lawrence, and Rodgers last fall.

Danny Wheels' ability to run the football, as well as Barkley's, puts fear into opposing defensive coordinators, which forces those coaches to stack the box and play Giants wideouts one on one. Hopkins would undoubtedly dominate those situations.

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