Cardinals' DeAndre Hopkins Suspended 6 Games for Violating NFL's PED Policy

The National Football League announced Monday that it has suspended the ArizonaCardinals star for six games for violating the league's performance- enhancing drug policy.

The news was first reported by Adam Schefter.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network said that the ban was made official after Hopkins withdrew his appeal.

Depending on when the team might have been made aware of an impending ban for the three-time All-Pro, this could provide more context behind Arizona's trade forHollywood Brown from the Baltimore Ravens.

By the time he is eligible to return for the Cards, he will have missed 10 regular-season games. He missed Arizona's last four games and the team's Wild Card Round loss to the Los Angeles Rams because of a knee injury. He was out for three weeks in November with a hamstring injury.

The offense suffered a big drop when the veteran pass-catching was unavailable.

CBS Sports HQ @CBSSportsHQ

Cardinals With & Without DeAndre HopkinsLast Season Including Playoffs With WithoutW-L 8-2 3-5

PPG 30.2 19.8 pic.twitter.com/v4fW3XlUaA

Colorado State's tight end was selected in the second round of the NFL draft.

At the time, it looked like the organization was trying to appease Kyler Murray.

Lance Medow @LanceMedow

Kyler Murray may argue he's lacking a new contract but he's certainly not lacking weapons in Arizona..Trey McBride joins Zach Ertz in the TE room to go along with several WRs (Hopkins, Green, Brown, Moore, Isabella) & RB James Conner #NFLDraft

The fact that Hopkins will miss more than a third of the season might have made the Cards fortify their passing game.

I wonder if the long-term future in Arizona is in jeopardy.

He signed a two-year, $54.5 million extension in 2020.

The team would not be financially prohibitive to move on in 2023. Designating him as a post-June 1 cut would add $9.1 million to the team's dead money in the next two years, but save the team $21.7 million.

Brown is likely to emerge as a big winner from this situation.

The first-round pick explained how he requested an exit from Baltimore because of his usage in the Ravens offense.

Brown might be the top receiving option on a team that averaged the fourth-most passing yards per attempt and 10th-most yards per game.