Arizona
ESPN lists best fits for DeAndre Hopkins after Cardinals release
It is not often a potential WR1 hits the market at the doorstep of June, but here we are.
The Arizona Cardinals announced on Friday they released DeAndre Hopkins after they could not find a trade partner, largely due to his $19.45 million base salary for 2023. The move forces the Cardinals to eat $22.6 million in dead cap, but they will be clear in 2024.
Hopkins now hits a market of teams looking for that final piece ahead of training camp and the regular season, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler picked out the best possible marriages.
He listed five best fits and four wild cards.
The five contenders: Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets, Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints.
The Bills have already been linked to Hopkins multiple times this offseason. Edge rusher Von Miller told reporters that Hopkins said he’d like to play for them. The veteran receiver also named Bills QB Josh Allen as one of five players he’d like to catch passes from on the “I Am Athlete” podcast.
He also listed Patrick Mahomes of the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, a team without a clear No. 1 receiver to line up alongside star tight end Travis Kelce.
Deandre Hopkins on his TOP 5 Quarterbacks he wants the ball thrown to him from 👀⬇️
1) @JoshAllenQB
2) @JalenHurts
3) @PatrickMahomes
4) @Lj_era8
5) #JustinHerbert pic.twitter.com/JZKTf2x0Wy— I AM ATHLETE (@IAMATHLETEpod) May 22, 2023
The issue with both AFC juggernauts is fitting Hopkins in under the cap, as Fowler explained:
But if he wants money close to the $19.45 million he was due in Arizona, that could be a nonstarter for the Bills, who have $2.4 million in cap space. Buffalo would need to get creative to fit Hopkins on the books.
… And like with Buffalo, cap space is a problem for the Chiefs, who enter the weekend with $1.6 million.
The Jets have reloaded on offense with Aaron Rodgers under center. Their group of receivers includes reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson, newcomers Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Mecole Hardman and veteran Corey Davis. The position corps would be loaded with Hopkins in the building.
The Cowboys have not won multiple playoff games in a run since the 1990s, and they already added Brandin Cooks to the WR room with CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup.
Hopkins shook his head when asked if Dak Prescott was in his top five for quarterbacks he wanted to play with on “I Am Athlete,” though.
The Saints added quarterback Derek Carr this winter and face an NFC South devoid of much proven NFL quarterback talent.
Not listed were the Los Angeles Chargers, Baltimore Ravens or Philadelphia Eagles, whose quarterbacks Hopkins mentioned.
The four wild card options were the Cleveland Browns with Hopkins’ former teammate Deshaun Watson, New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots.
New England brought in former Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien to run the offense this offseason. O’Brien traded Hopkins to Arizona after the 2019 campaign.
Do I sense DeAndre Hopkins is eager to reunite with Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien — the two reportedly had a rocky relationship in Houston — in an unsettled quarterback situation for the right to practice in the snow? No. But money often drives these conversations, and it’s no secret the Patriots have been on the market for pass-catching help for Mac Jones.
Arizona
Newest Arizona members of Congress sworn in during opening day in DC
Gary Farmer is an actor, musician, and activist whose made a career in indigenous media. His performances in television and film have received rave reviews. The1989 film “Powwow Highway”, in which he stars, was just inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Arizona
Yassamin Ansari, Abe Hamadeh set to become Arizona’s newest members of Congress
Arizona District 3 Congresswoman elect Yassamin Ansari talks victory
Congresswoman elect Yassamin Ansari gives victory speech on Nov. 5, 2024, after being elected to represent Arizona’s 3rd district in Congress.
Arizona’s two newest U.S. House members are set to get sworn into their posts as the 119th Congress gets underway.
Republican Abe Hamadeh, a lawyer, and Democrat Yassamin Ansari, a former Phoenix vice mayor, are expected to take their oaths of office on Friday, shortly after the House resumes session.
Hamadeh will replace Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., who is retiring from Congress to serve on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
He will represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, an overwhelmingly Republican area that covers parts of Maricopa and Yavapai counties, including Glendale, Peoria, Sun City West and New River.
Propelled by an endorsement from President-elect Donald Trump, Hamadeh defeated a crowded field of other Republicans in Arizona’s July 30 primary election and sailed to an easy victory in the Nov. 5 general election.
Hamadeh, a self-described “America First warrior,” largely echoed Trump’s positions on the campaign trail. He will serve on the House Veterans Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee.
Ansari will represent Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District, a stretch of Maricopa County that includes parts of Phoenix and Glendale. She is replacing Democrat Ruben Gallego, who has swapped his House seat for a U.S. Senate seat. Her House committee assignments have not been announced.
During the primary election, Ansari hewed closer to the political center than her opponent, former state Sen. Raquel Terán of Phoenix. Ansari ran on a progressive platform but staked out more centrist turf on issues like policing and U.S. foreign policy toward Israel.
She beat out Terán by just 39 votes, and, like Hamadeh, won her November election in a landslide.
Ansari plans to join the House’s Progressive Caucus, the Democrats’ most left-leaning faction on Capitol Hill.
Arizona
3 arrested in connection with good Samaritan's killing in Arizona
Three people were arrested this week in connection with the death of a good Samaritan in Arizona last month, officials said.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department identified two of the three people arrested Monday as Jack Upchurch, 40, and Elmer Smith, 19. The third person is 16 years old. NBC News does not typically identify minors accused of crimes.
The trio were arrested in connection with the death of Paul Clifford, 53, whose body was found near a smoldering car northeast of Tucson last month.
Sabrina Vining, a woman who identified herself as Clifford’s daughter in an online fundraiser, said her father disappeared after he left his house at 11:30 p.m. Dec. 23 to help a “stranger with a stranded vehicle.”
NBC affiliate KVOA of Tucson reported that Clifford’s family reported him missing after, they said, a strange man knocked on Clifford’s door and asked for help with his car.
He was later found dead, the sheriff’s department said. It did not provide a cause or manner of death.
Officials said they received information Monday about a possible location for the three suspects.
Detectives searched the area and obtained a search warrant for a property, which the Pima Regional SWAT team carried out.
The suspects barricaded themselves inside a home and eventually called 911 to negotiate a surrender, the sheriff’s department said. They left the residence and were taken into custody.
The sheriff’s department did not release any information about a motive or how it connected the suspects to Clifford’s killing.
The three suspects were booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Center on felony arrest warrants, officials said.
It was not immediately clear whether they have legal representation. Jail records do not list attorneys for any of the three.
Upchurch was being held on a $1 million bond, Smith on $1.025 million bail and the minor on a half-million-dollar bond, according to jail records.
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