Seahawks rival Arizona Cardinals continue to fall apart, release DeAndre Hopkins

The 2023 offseason continues to get better for the Seattle Seahawks. Now one of Seattle's NFC West rivals, the Arizona Cardinals, has released receiver DeAndre Hopkins who was arguably their best player. Arizona tried shopping Hopkins this offseason but got no takers. Now Hopkins has been outright released.

The weird part might have been that Arizona released Hopkins with a pre-June 1st designation. Arizona, a team clearly poorly run at this point, couldn't have waited until post-June 1st to let go of Hopkins, however. The reason is NFL teams can only designate two players each year with post-June 1st cuts, but Arizona has already designated Rodney Hudson and J.J. Watt.

So Arizona has to eat somewhere around $22 million in dead cap in 2023. But had they waited until post-June 1st to release him, they would have rolled $11 million in dead space to 2024. It was a no-win situation for the Cardinals really, but the release of Hopkins is just another win for the Seahawks this offseason. Here are a few things to note.

What it means for the Seahawks that DeAndre Hopkins is done with the Cardinals

First off, while it would be great for Seattle to get another excellent weapon for quarterback Geno Smith, the Seahawks are not going to sign Hopkins. For one thing, they cannot afford him. Secondly, adding Hopkins only would stunt the growth of first-round choice Jaxon Smith-Njigba. If Seattle didn't have Tyler Lockett or DK Metcalf, the team should seriously consider chasing Hopkins, but Seattle does have Lockett and Metcalf so there's no need for Hopkins.

Secondly, the Cardinals continue to weaken themselves this offseason. They let defensive lineman Zach Allen leave in free agency. Plus, JJ Watt retired. Maybe Watt is 34 years old, but he still had 12.5 sacks in 2022. Arizona also lost cornerback Byron Murphy in free agency. Arizona wasn't good last year, and they won't be better in 2023.

Lastly, Hopkins' leaving could create a problem for the Seahawks elsewhere, though. Some of the rumored potential landing spots for Hopkins include the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. Not only do the Seahawks play both those teams in the regular season, but there is a chance Seattle, Dallas, and Detroit all make the playoffs in 2023. So while Hopkins leaving Arizona might help Seattle in the regular season (as Seattle plays the Cardinals twice, of course), Hopkins could still be a problem in the playoffs.