DeAndre Hopkins and Kyler Murray will be wild for Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals offloaded the albatross contract of David Johnson and found an incredible new weapon for Kyler Murray.

Most Cardinals fans would have been content simply to get out of the team paying running back David Johnson over the next two years.

Bill O’Brien and the Houston Texans have entered the chat.

Somehow, Cardinals general manager Steve Keim turned a magic trick Monday afternoon, acquiring All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in the process of trading Johnson to the Texans.

The Johnson contract was the weight hanging around Keim’s neck heading into free agency. By getting rid of Johnson (Houston will reportedly pay all of Johnson’s salary), the Cardinals free up cap space to ink Hopkins to a long-term contract, landing the perfect partner for 2019 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in Kyler Murray.

It’s a perfect match.

As a rookie, Murray accounted for 3,722 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. In the second year of head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s system along with adding Hopkins, his numbers should skyrocket.

Last year, Murray had youngsters Trent Sherfield, Demiere Byrd, Andy Isabella, KeeSean Johnson and Pharoh Cooper, plus a 36-year-old Larry Fitzgerald and inconsistent slot receiver Christian Kirk.

When running back Kenyan Drake arrived in October, his dual-threat ability out of the backfield took the offense to another level, as did Murray’s increased confidence as a runner and big games from Kirk and Fitzgerald. Inserting Hopkins into the mix without losing any of the players who propelled the Cardinals’ offense in 2019 will be massive.

Despite another inconsistent offensive line performance from the Texans and nothing stellar from Houston’s running backs, Hopkins’ connection with quarterback DeShaun Watson made Houston’s offense go. Though the Cardinals can’t necessarily count on great protection for Murray either, he, like Watson, can create offense by moving and making athletic plays.

In 2019, Kingsbury actually played with two tight ends fairly often, as well as sometimes two running backs. Perhaps this was a genuine adjustment Kingsbury searched for in jumping to the NFL, but more likely, it was a change necessitated by poor depth at receiver.

With Hopkins, the offense will get back to its planned structure, and Murray will be unleashed to rip the ball down the field.

Huge day in the desert.

Bill O’Brien has now left the chat.