Cooper Kupp established himself as an important part of the Rams’ offense from the day general manager Les Snead selected him in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft.
But the receiver who won NFL offensive player of the year and Super Bowl most valuable player awards began the offseason on Monday with his future with the Rams in doubt.
When the Rams started the season 1-4, the team entertained trade offers for Kupp. The Rams turned around their season, but the eighth-year pro’s production waned during their drive to the playoffs.
A day after the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Rams 28-22 in an NFC divisional-round game, Kupp was asked if he wanted to return.
“Yeah,” Kupp told reporters in the locker room at the team’s facility in Woodland Hills. “Who knows what’s going to happen. A lot of stuff is out of my control. We’ll see what it’s going to be.
“There was obviously stuff that was going on early on in the season and we’ll see. I don’t have any clarity on what that’s going to look like or anything like that. Obviously, I would love to be in L.A. But I don’t know what that’s going to look like.”
Kupp’s situation is one of several that Snead, coach Sean McVay and the Rams must address, including whether quarterback Matthew Stafford will be back.
Before this past season, the Rams bent to Stafford’s demand to adjust his contract. The 16-year veteran, who will be 37 in a few weeks, said after the loss to the Eagles that he would take some time to consider his future.
Kupp, who will be 32 next season, has two years left on the extension he signed in 2022, which included $75 million in guarantees. The Rams rewarded Kupp after he achieved the so-called triple crown by leading the NFL in catches, yards receiving and touchdown catches. Kupp capped that season by catching two touchdown passes in the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium.
Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp runs with the football during a game against the Philadelphia Eagles in October 2023.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
But Kupp suffered several injuries that sidelined him for much of the past three seasons, including an ankle injury this season kept him out of four games.
In 12 regular-season games, Kupp caught 67 passes for 710 yards and six touchdowns. He caught only one pass in the Rams’ wild-card victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
“Like any great leader, I think he was just glad to be a part of winning for our team,” McVay said before the Rams played the Eagles, “but he’ll always be a guy that we want to try to be able to get involved.”
Kupp caught five passes for 61 yards in the defeat on Sunday.
Kupp is due to earn $12.5 million next season on a salary-cap number of $29.8 million, according to Overthecap.com. Only $5 million of his salary is guaranteed, according to the website.
The Rams could ask Kupp to restructure his contract. Or they could trade him.
Kupp said there was “no doubt in my mind” that he wants to play next season.
“I feel like I have a lot of good football left in me,” he said, “so I definitely will be playing. I will be playing football next year, so that much I know.”
Kupp has been an important part of McVay’s offense in several iterations.
As a rookie, he combined with receivers Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins to give former quarterback Jared Goff multiple options.
In 2018, Kupp, Woods and Brandin Cooks were a dynamic trio before Kupp suffered a season-ending knee injury that forced him to miss the second half of the season and the run to Super Bowl LIII.
In 2021, Stafford arrived via a trade for Goff and he immediately connected with Kupp. Woods suffered a late-season knee injury, and the Rams signed Odell Beckham Jr., who helped the Rams win the Super Bowl.
Last season, with Kupp sidelined early because of a hamstring injury, rookie receiver Puka Nacua emerged as a star. Nacua now appears on track to earn a huge extension before the 2026 season, which also makes Kupp’s situation tenuous.
On Monday, Kupp said he would take time to reflect on this season.
“Even though it wasn’t pretty a lot of the times, offensively, we got it done,” he said. “So there is frustration there. And obviously I want to be able to feel like I’m impacting games and that’s done on a much more discreet level, I feel like, for a lot of these games….I can look back on this season and be happy with what I put on tape and things that I was being asked to do, I feel like I was executing my job, and that’s all you can do.”
Kupp said he did not have any issues that would require surgery and that he “should be able to have a full offseason to be able to train and do what I need to do.”
Whether that work will be evidenced in a ninth season with the Rams — or perhaps another team — remains to be seen.