NFC Notes: DeAndre Hopkins, 49ers, Cardinals, Seahawks

49ers

The San Francisco 49ers announced the following coaching hires:

• Daniel Bullocks, defensive backs
• Cameron Brown, defensive quality control
• Andrew Hayes-Stoker, assistant defensive backs
• Nick Sorensen, defensive passing game specialist/nickels coach

Cardinals

• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer provides an update on the situation with Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins after the veteran receiver posted a video to Instagram saying: “I see everyone telling me to stay. Who said I wanna go? Who said I wanna leave? I’m out here working, baby.”
• Breer points out Hopkins was granted permission to explore a trade with other teams, so it’s pretty clear playing elsewhere was a strong consideration for both sides at one point. 
• As for where things stand right now, Hopkins is due $19.5 million from the Cardinals this season and it doesn’t appear any other team wants to pay him close to that amount. Breer says the Chiefs and Bills have explored their options with Hopkins but that salary is a non-starter. 
• Breer adds if Hopkins were determined to get out of Arizona at any cost, he’d probably have accepted a pay cut by now. But at 31 years old, $20 million is a lot to turn down, which puts the ball in Arizona’s court. 

Seahawks

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll was asked in a radio interview how seriously they would have considered Anthony Richardson at No. 5 overall. 

“We considered him,” Carroll said, via Michael-Shawn Dugar of TheAthletic.com. “Shoot, we flew all the way out there to go see him. Not just to see him but to be around him and watch him and how he handled himself, and his program with all the hype that was going. We gave him tremendous consideration. He might be the best athlete that’s ever been drafted at that position. He’s arguably that. So, we had to definitely consider that.”