NFC Notes: Cardinals, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

Cardinals

• According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins is set to make $42.8 million fully guaranteed over the next two years. 
• Hopkins’ $6.65 million 2022 base salary becomes fully guaranteed this March. 
• Breer notes the final two years of Hopkins’ deal appear to be team options at base salaries of $19.5 million and $14.9 million. 
• Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury said former CFL QB Chris Streveler is the team’s primary backup and QB Brett Hundley is the No. 3: “We just feel like Strev gives us an edge.” (Bob McManaman)

49ers

49ers TE George Kittle had to leave Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals after getting bent back and sustaining an apparent knee or leg injury. Though he didn’t record a catch after the injury, Kittle was able to return to the game and said he felt “fantastic,” and the injury was “not an issue at all.”

“I know he went out with a lower leg injury,” 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said, via 49ersWebzone.com’s David Bonilla. “They don’t get into specifics with me. At halftime, he told me he was good to go, so he returned. I’m sure we’ll find out a little bit more tomorrow morning when he comes in.”

While the final statline for 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo wasn’t awful — 19 of 33 passing for 259 yards and two touchdowns, no interceptions — Garoppolo left a lot of plays on the field. San Francisco was just 2-11 on third down and Garoppolo had key incompletions as the Cardinals rallied late, just like in the Super Bowl loss. 

“He had some good plays in there, but just like the entire offense, just missed a number of opportunities that it was going to take to win that game,” Shanahan said via Pro Football Talk. “We had a couple there. He’s got to play better. We’ve all got to play better on offense especially. It starts with me.”

Rams

Rams CB Jalen Ramsey said his new five-year, $105 million extension has lifted a weight off of his shoulders entering the 2020 season. 

“I started, as the season got closer to being here, I started to think about it a little bit more, get kinda anxious a little bit,” Ramsey said, via Lindsey Thiry of ESPN. “But having it done before the season — before, really, this week’s preparation — meant a lot. This has been really solid, somewhere I feel comfortable. I love L.A., obviously, and everything that comes with it. But this team has been everything that I’ve dreamed of plus more, and I can’t wait to, honestly, play here for hopefully the rest of my career. I can’t wait to tell my kids one day that I played with the best football player ever, Aaron Donald. Hopefully, we can do great things, win Super Bowls, and do a lot of great things in L.A.”

Seahawks

After the Jets traded S Jamal Adams to the Seahawks, there were a few verbal jabs traded between the teams, with Jets DC Gregg Williams suggesting Adams would be bored by Seattle’s vanilla reliance on Cover 3 defense in comparison to Williams’ exotic looks that put Adams all over the field. That wasn’t the case Week 1, as Adams had eight solo tackles and a sack.