Trade rumors and speculation had swirled around DeAndre Hopkins ever since the offseason began. But instead of trading the former Clemson star, the Arizona Cardinals parted ways with Hopkins in a different way last Friday when they simply released the three-time first-team All-Pro receiver.

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter recently joined SportsCenter to discuss the huge news of Hopkins being released and explained why the Cardinals made that move.

“Essentially they could not trade him,” Schefter said. “They’ve been looking to deal him for months, and while the football world thinks DeAndre Hopkins, great hands, tremendous wide receiver, the fact of the matter is there wasn’t a team out there willing to take on the $19.45 million contract, and DeAndre Hopkins was unwilling to restructure the contract to a number that was comfortable for another team to be able to trade him.

“And the Cardinals were looking to move on, DeAndre Hopkins was looking to move on, and after being unable to find a new home for him for months, rather than risk him hurting himself during an OTA or a minicamp and being on the hook for all that guaranteed money, the team made the decision to simply out and out release him on Friday.”

After serving a six-game suspension to start last season, Hopkins tallied a team-high 717 receiving yards with three touchdowns and had 64 catches in nine games for the Arizona Cardinals. The 2013 first-round draft pick posted 221 receptions for 2,696 yards and 17 touchdowns across three seasons with the Cardinals.

Overall, Hopkins has amassed 853 catches for 11,298 yards and 71 touchdowns over his 10 NFL seasons with the Houston Texans and Cardinals.

While the Cardinals couldn’t find a trade partner for Hopkins, that doesn’t mean the five-time Pro Bowler’s services aren’t coveted.

Schefter was asked to discuss potential suitors that might be in the mix to sign Hopkins, who will turn 31 in early June and has the most receptions in the league since 2013 with 853.

“Well here’s the thing. When he went on the ‘I Am Athlete’ podcast last week, he listed five different teams with the quarterbacks that he’d like to play for – Buffalo, Baltimore, the Chargers, the Eagles, the Chiefs. Let’s go case by case here,” Schefter said. “Let’s look at Buffalo. Don’t have a lot of money. He would be a luxury item. Don’t know that it could happen there. Baltimore has gone out and signed Odell Beckham Jr. and drafted Zay Flowers in the first round. The Chargers went out and drafted Quentin Johnston in the first round to go along with Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. DeAndre Hopkins would be a luxury item in Philadelphia, and then the last team out there would be the Kansas City Chiefs, who clearly have a need but have been unwilling to meet his price to date, and they don’t have much money right now because they gave some of that money to the free agent offensive tackle Donovan Smith and still have to redo the contract of Chris Jones and maybe even Patrick Mahomes.

“So of the places that DeAndre Hopkins listed as attractive to him, none of them make an overwhelming amount of sense for the type of money that he’d like to make. Now, if he’s willing to take less, building incentives, yes, something with one of those teams could get done. But if any one of these teams wanted him badly enough, they would’ve traded for him, so now they’ve got to find a home for him on a more friendly contract.”