Even ‘Madden’ Rejects The David Johnson For DeAndre Hopkins Trade

With every major (and minor) sports league that would be actually playing right now on hiatus due to the COVID-19 outbreak and likely remaining that way for another eight weeks based on the latest CDC recommendations, the NFL offseason is the closest thing to actual sports happening right now — outside of marble racing on YouTube.

After the NFLPA narrowly voted in approval of the new CBA, the league year was able to begin and with a number of big names on the market in free agency, it figured to be quite the offseason in terms of player movement. What wasn’t expected was the blockbuster — and head-scratching — trade that was reportedly agreed upon on Monday when the Arizona Cardinals somehow got DeAndre Hopkins and a fourth round pick from the Texans for David Johnson, the 40th overall pick, and a fourth rounder.

The general response from around the league (and within the halls of the Texans facility) was basically this.

That confusion as to why Houston would do this, given Johnson’s contract and the fact that Hopkins is an elite receiver who helps Deshaun Watson be one of the league’s top quarterbacks, was shared by most everyone, including the world of virtual football. If you hop on Madden 20 and choose the Cardinals to start a Franchise and offer this exact trade, the Texans laugh at you and tell you to come back with a better offer.

We also tried this ourselves and can confirm getting the same result. Now, Madden isn’t the end all be all when it comes to things like this, but when the AI in the game has this much of an issue with a trade offer its an indicator that maybe you should’ve sought after a bit more in return, even when factoring in Hopkins is seeking a big long-term deal.

In any case, the Cardinals offense just got a big boost and it’ll be very fun to watch Hopkins catch passes from Kyler Murray for years to come. Houston, meanwhile, has work to do to fill the hole left by Hopkins on the outside.