Trade speculation around Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp goes back to the trade deadline, and it has not gone away as the offseason starts. On Monday night, Kupp took to Twitter to announce the Rams have told him they are trading him and will work with him to find the ideal destination.
Since winning the receiving Triple Crown during the Rams’ Super Bowl season in 2021 (145 receptions for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns), injuries have impacted Kupp, with nine, 12 and 12 games played over the last three seasons. His role in the Rams’ offense declined late this season, but he seems to have plenty left at 31 years old (32 in June).
As teams are being listed and proposed as potential landing spots for Kupp, the Detroit Lions have been sprinkled in. They have come up as a potential trade suitor for him before, however flimsy it was at those points in time, and it can be made to make better sense now.
Lions quickly pointed to as team who may have interest in Cooper Kupp
On “SportsCenter” Tuesday morning, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said league executives have given him four teams who are expected to be interested in Kupp: the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Washington Commanders and the Lions. (h/t to Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports).
“One league executive brought up Detroit to me because of the connection with Jared Goff”, Fowler said. “They came into the league together and made Pro Bowls together. That’s the type of instant connection together that could be fun.”
The Lions’ ties to Kupp are obvious. Jared Goff was the Rams’ quarterback for the first four seasons of Kupp’s career. General manager Brad Holmes was the Rams’ Director of College Scouting when Kupp was a third-round pick in 2017.
Of course any conversation about trading for Kupp has to include his contract.
Kupp is due a total of $20 million this year, split between a $12.5 million base salary and a $7.5 million roster bonus. $5 million of that roster bonus became guaranteed last year, and the rest comes due on March 15. He has a $14.85 million base salary and a $5 million roster bonus in 2026, the final year of his contract, but none of that money is guaranteed.
Any team looking to acquire WR Cooper Kupp will almost certainly be renegotiating his current contract. The 31-year-old carries a 2 year, $22M valuation in our system.
If this came with a $10M signing bonus + 3 void years, it would mean a cap hit of around $3.2M in 2025.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) February 4, 2025
It seems likely the Rams will have to absorb a noticeable chunk of that $20 million to facilitate a trade. They could pay the entire $7.5 million roster bonus, pending a potential trade. That would likely create a timing issue for Kupp to land with a new team, which would go against the idea they will immediately work with him to find the destination he’d like.
The Rams could also cut Kupp if a suitable trade can’t be found. Designating him as a post-June 1 cut would double to cap space they can clear compared to a pre-June 1 cut, and if they cut him late that would be an issue for him finding a new team.
If things go a certain way, Kupp could land with the Lions and Fowler’s report suggesting they’ll be interested isn’t surprising. Let’s call it a coin-flip it happens right now, with a lot of teams lined up to be somewhere in the mix to get him.
