Turf Show Times
The Rams paid huge financial penalties for extending Cooper Kupp, Aaron Donald in 2022
Even though they played for the Rams, one of the most storied franchises in history as far as legendary players go, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald, and Cooper Kupp will always belong to the most exclusive group of players to ever suit up for this team. That does not mean that the Rams were smart in extending all three of them in 2022 after winning the Super Bowl.
Will Les Snead’s front office make a smart decision with regards to Stafford’s next contract decision or an emotional one?
Before we answer that, re-live the financial implications of handing out raises to Stafford, Kupp, and Donald before they were even due.
Aaron Donald: $27 million
Cooper Kupp: $17.8 million
Matthew Stafford: $13.5 million
Financially, there was nothing out of bounds in 2022 even though the team collapsed and overpaid Allen Robinson in free agency to replace Robert Woods, who they released. The team could have just kept Woods, in turns out.
However, if the Rams had simply waited to extend these three players until after the 2022 season — only Stafford was scheduled to be a free agent in 2023 and the team could have tagged him at that point — they would have had a lot more information to go off of...and gotten a much bigger discount.
Kupp missed eight games, which is no surprise for a 29-year-old receiver who has an injury history, while Stafford also missed eight and Donald was inactive for six.
Without being financial hamstrung to their contracts, the Rams could have at least shopped Cooper Kupp (and gotten a significant return while he was still 30 and less expensive) after the 2022 season. Instead, they’ve paid him an insane amount for the past three seasons...the worst three seasons of his career.
If the Rams pick up Kupp’s $7.5 million roster bonus ($5 million is guaranteed), OvertheCap.com’s Jason Fitzgerald notes that they will have paid him $47.75 million for only ONE season of the contract he signed in 2022.
If the Rams do pick up the roster bonus this year, Kupp’s contract will sneakily go down as one of the great player contracts of all time. The Rams would have wound up paying Kupp $47.75 million for completing just one year of his three year extension where he tallied a stat line of 67/710/6. While it is not entirely fair to look at the contract through that lens (unlike many other extensions Kupp had clearly outplayed his prior deal) it is still an example of a player being able to use every bit of leverage to his advantage to make certain he maxes out his compensation.
It wasn’t rocket science: Don’t pay a player right after his best career season. It wasn’t hard to predict that Kupp would never be as good as he was in 2021 again.
2023 salary cap -...
