Turf Show Times
Rams and Cooper Kupp are seemingly not ending their tenure on good terms
The Los Angeles Rams and Cooper Kupp are almost certain to part ways, and although some have seen this coming, this is still a bit shocking. Kupp was a Super Bowl MVP for the Rams only a few seasons ago, and now he’s apparently being shown the door. According to The Athletic the Rams didn’t even talk to Cooper directly about a restructure.
“A league source said that the Rams did not directly ask Kupp to restructure his existing contract in order to stay in L.A., although to make a trade more appealing to prospective teams an adjusted contract is likely still a possibility.”
A restructure is when the team converts the player’s base salary into a signing bonus, which lowers the cap hit for the team. It is not a pay cut. The Rams could save up to $9.3 million in 2025 cap space if they restructured Kupp’s contract, but one of the reasons the team would not want to do this is that it would make the receiver more expensive to trade or release in 2026.
In any case, the team abruptly moving on from Kupp without him appearing to be aware of this move before it happened doesn’t seem respectful.
Perhaps it’s as simple as L.A. is ready for change. We’ve seen Sean McVay gush over players like Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks, Jared Goff and Todd Gurley prior to their departures. Now, Kupp is most likely going to be added to the list of players who were once cornerstones of the organization, but were gone before their contract was up.
Maybe Aaron Donald had the right idea. Get out on your terms. Or better said: Walk, before they make you run.
