Rams seeking to act ‘very motivated’ Cooper Kupp

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  • Sarah Barshop3rd February 2025, 07:52 PM et

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      Sarah Barshop covers Los Angeles Rams to ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Green Bay Packers to ESPN Milwaukee. She then moved to Houston to cover the Texans. She came to ESPN after working as a writer and editor of Sports Illustrated. You can follow her on Twitter @sarahbarshop.

Los Angeles – Broad recipient Cooper Kupp has been informed by Los Angeles Rams that “the team will seek a trade as well,” he announced on Monday.

“I do not agree with the decision and always thought it would begin and end in LA,” Kupp said in a statement Sent to social media.

The recipient said the team will work with him and his family to “find the right place to continue to compete for championships” and that he is “very motivated” and healthy as ever as he prepares to go in Next season.

During the course of being in LA, “he has no control over what will happen this season.

After a record-breaking 2021 season that saw him lead the NFL in receptions, receive yards and receive touchdowns, Kupp signed a three-year contract extension worth $ 80.1 million. He just finished the first season of this contract and is scheduled to get a CAP hit of $ 29.8 million next season and $ 27.3 million in 2026.

Kupp’s guaranteed salary next season is only $ 5 million and he has no guaranteed money on the last year of the contract in 2026. If Rams is trading Kupp in a deal designated post-1. June, they will save $ 20 million against their 2025 salary ceiling. .

If Rams cuts Kupp this season, they save $ 15 million in cash and $ 7.52 million against the salary. If Rams releases him without a post-June 1 designation, they will absorb $ 22.2 million in dead money due to the remaining calculated parts of his signing bonus and $ 5 million of his list of bonuses.

Kupp has spent his entire eight-season career with Rams, which started in 2017 as a 24-year-old rookie. He was a third round of election out of eastern Washington, who had 62 receptions in his debut season.

After the team acquired Quarterback Matthew Stafford from Lions in exchange for Jared Goff ahead of the regular season 2021, Kupp had one of the best receiving seasons in NFL history. He closed the season with eight catches in 92 yards and two touchdowns in Rams’ Super Bowl -Se win over Bengals, which got him the game’s MVP price.

The regular season of 2021 was one of two seasons where he played each game. Since then he has played 33 games for three seasons with a seasonal height of 812 receiving yards.

Over the past two seasons, Rams has increasingly depended on the broad recipient Puka Nacua in the passing game, which made it unlikely that Kupp would return to the team on his current contract. Nacua missed six games this season, but an average of 88.4 receiving yards per year. Battle during the first two years of his career.