Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones agree. The Dallas Cowboys aren’t in the market for free wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Probably.
Jerry told reporters on Monday that the Cowboys were “unlikely” to pursue the five-time All-Pro, who was released last month by the Arizona Cardinals. His son and chief operating officer, Stephen, told reporters the team was happy with the state of his host corps after trading for Brandin Cooks.
“He’s not on this team right now,” Stephen said of Hopkins. “We went the route with Cooks. We are very comfortable with cooks. We are happy with our host group.
Speculation has linked Hopkins to the Cowboys — among other teams — since being released by the Cardinals on May 26. The Cowboys struggled last season to find a secondary threat behind CeeDee Lamb after trading Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns. And they’re rarely shy about making a splash as an independent agency.
Lamb was one of football’s most productive receivers in 2022 with 1,359 yards and 9 touchdowns. Noah Brown was the team’s second most productive player at that position with 555 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Cooks has topped 1,000 receiving yards in six of his nine NFL seasons and should provide an immediate upgrade. But that doesn’t mean the prospect of adding Hopkins isn’t attractive.
At his best, Hopkins is one of football’s most dangerous weapons. He last displayed that form in 2020, when he had 1,407 yards and 6 touchdowns with the Cardinals. He’s been limited to 19 games in the two seasons since, while averaging 644.5 yards and 5.5 touchdowns per campaign.
Not everyone is convinced that Hopkins can get back to form. He will be 31 on Tuesday. An unnamed executive told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer that he didn’t believe Hopkins had much left in the tank.
“Not much,” the executive wrote via text message. “He can’t run anymore.”
Another executive told Breer that Hopkins is “always a good player” and a “physical target who can play a ball in the air.”
Wherever Hopkins signs, he will do so for far less than the $27.25 million he was expected to earn annually over the last two years of his contract before his release to Arizona.
Zeke back in Dallas?
While it looks like the Cowboys are in the Hopkins contest, they’re not closing the door on another high-profile aging free agent. Jerry tossed around Ezekiel Elliott’s name while discussing potential additions to the roster on Monday.
“I’ve never closed the door, never on the potential to add smart to our team this year,” Jones said. … “So, you name it, let it be Zeke. Let that be where we are like the guys we worked with here today. … So it’s all wide open for me.”
Jerry added that the Cowboys have had no discussions with Elliott since releasing the seven-year veteran running back since his March release. So Elliott’s return sounds like a long shot – just a better one than Hopkins wearing silver and blue this fall.