DeAndre Hopkins insists he had "no relationship" with Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien prior to the star wide receiver's trade to the Arizona Cardinals.

Hopkins was stunningly traded to the Cardinals last month for the paltry return of a second-round pick and running back David Johnson.

The former first-round pick has three successive 1,000-yard campaigns and five overall in his seven seasons in the NFL.

In the aftermath, it was claimed the relationship between Hopkins and O'Brien deteriorated in the wake of a meeting in which the coach brought up former New England Patriots tight end and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez.

Hopkins was blunt in his response when asked about O'Brien during an interview with Sports Illustrated.

"There was no relationship," Hopkins said. "Make sure you put that in there. There's not a lot to speak about."

The three-time first-team All-Pro revealed he knew that "asking for a little raise" would lead to O'Brien, who acts as the Texans' de-facto general manager, trying to trade him.

"Which is the outcome that I wanted," he explained.

In moving to Arizona, Hopkins will go from one talented young dual-threat quarterback to another.

He will hope to form the same connection with Kyler Murray, last year's number one overall pick, that he had with Deshaun Watson.

Hopkins is confident, though, that Watson will continue to play at a high level, adding: "Deshaun is going to be amazing without me."