Turf Show Times
If the Rams are unable to trade Cooper Kupp, shouldn’t the player consider a pay cut?
Divorces are never easy, but the split between Cooper Kupp and the Los Angeles Rams seems to be taking an uglier path than most players on the NFL trade block. Even still, if Kupp knows what’s good for him — Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay — he should consider trying to make amends with L.A. if they’re unable to find a trade partner.
Given how hard it could be to find a taker of his $20 million (minus whatever the Rams will pay), the Rams and Kupp should explore reconciliation if they can’t get a trade done.
Because if the Rams are willing to release Kupp, and surely they are, there’s still no better match for either side than Stafford for Kupp and Kupp for the role that he’s about to vacate on L.A.’s offense.
L.A.’s overpay to extend Kupp after his incredible 2021 season has resulted in the following 2025 contract numbers:
If the Rams trade Kupp, how much they save will depend on how much they pay to get a team to take him off of their books. But maybe at most they will save $7.5 million in cap space.
That’s the same amount the Rams would save by simply releasing Kupp outright.
However, L.A. also saves the $15 million in cash that Kupp is not guaranteed and that’s important too. $15 million in cash is $15 million that the team can keep in the pool to spend on players in 2025.
Including the player who would have to replace Kupp.
Which, for all intents and purposes...makes sense to be Cooper Kupp.
There are signs that the player and the team are not on good terms and/or that the Rams are moving on for reasons that go beyond money.
For one, Kupp decided to make a social media post explaining that the team is trying to trade him against his wishes. That’s uh...yeah...that’s not good.
There are also reports that the Rams weren’t actively engaging in renegotiation talks with Kupp on his contract.
However, those reports specifically cited a “restructure” which is a completely different beast than a pay cut. A restructure means that the player gets all the money he’s owed, just upfront instead of later.
That’s the opposite of what the Rams want to do with a 32-year-old receiver so it only makes sense that L.A. wasn’t trying to turn Kupp’s salary into a BONUS. Restructuring Kupp in 2025 means that his cap hit in 2026 goes up to $36.7 million and makes it slightly — albeit not entirely — harder to release with a bigger dead money hit on the books next offseason.
But what if the Rams can’t trade Kupp and...
