Steelers Now
Sports is the ultimate what have you done for me lately business, and this past week has been a blunt reminder of this reality. The most recent football related example of this is that the Los Angeles Rams have informed wide receiver Cooper Kupp that they will begin shopping him for a trade as soon as possible. In the days leading up to last years trade deadline, the Pittsburgh Steelers were one of the teams that called about his availability before Sean McVay and company ultimately decided to hang on to the former Super Bowl MVP to make one final run in the postseason. Should this be something that the team revisits in the coming months?
Before getting into what Kupp would bring to the table as a player, it’s imperative to understand his current contract. Any team looking to acquire the playmaker would be for his $12.5 million base salary but he also has a $7.5 million roster bonus coming his way with $5 million guaranteed on March 15. His cap charge for 2026 is currently set at $19.85 million, but none of that remaining money is guaranteed as of right now. Kupp will turn 32 years old in June and is currently the 10th-highest paid receiver in the league heading into the new year.
His 2021 season will forever be remembered as one of the greatest that we’ve ever seen. He joined an exclusive club by taking home the triple crown, leading the NFL in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947) and touchdowns (16). Since that point, Kupp has missed 19 games over the past three seasons due to various ailments. Multiple ankle injuries, as well as a hamstring strain, have made him a frequent bystander in recent years. As expected, his production during that time frame has tailed off and he hasn’t registered more than than 727 yards in each of the last two seasons.
When you go back and watch his film from this past season, you still see a useful player. Kupp does most of his damage in the slot, aligned in a tight split or in motion to give him free releases off the line of scrimmage with his calling card being his route running. Kupp is a highly intelligent player that excels by understanding how to manipulate defenders leverage to keep them off balance. He’s always had a knack for finding the soft spot in zone coverage and throttling down or working back to the ball to make himself available to the quarterback. His hands are super reliable (4.8% career drop rate) and because of his size and body control, is still a factor in contested catch situations. It’s also worth noting that he’s one of the most physical and technically refined blockers that we’ve seen at the position in this era.
But father time is undefeated, and it’s pretty apparent that it’s catching up with Kupp. A credit to good offensive architecture, he’s put in very advantageous situations by design but the more...
