The Rams are looking to trade their star wide receiver.
Los Angeles Rams star wide receiver Cooper Kupp shared an unexpected message earlier this week, revealing that the team plans to trade him this offseason, despite his wish to remain in Southern California.
“I was informed that the team will be seeking a trade immediately and will be working with me and my family to find the right place to continue competing for championships,” Kupp shared on Monday. “I don’t agree with the decision and always believed it was going to begin and end in LA.”
That sent shockwaves on social media, as Kupp had been a staple in Los Angeles, most notably winning the Triple Crown back in 2021, earning him First-Team All-Pro honors and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award.
But, with Kupp’s public statement, it seems clear that he will not be playing for the Rams in 2024. Even with their current situation at wide receiver, should the 49ers make a call to Los Angeles and inquire about adding Kupp?
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky made the case for the 49ers adding Kupp, placing them with the Houston Texans, Cincinnati Bengals, and Denver Broncos as logical destinations for the star receiver.
“If I were one of those four teams, I would be immediately calling,” Orlovsky said on ESPN’s Get Up. “I think he’s still a really good player. He’s not going to be the 2021 Triple Crown winner, but very much so a high-end, at worst, number-two wide receiver.”
“What’s Brandon Aiyuk’s health coming off of his injury? They only really have (Ricky) Pearsall and (Jauan) Jennings. Two good players, but Cooper’s immediately an upgrade.”
Looking back at Kupp’s 2024 season, the wideout started off the year hot, commanding 21 targets in the Rams’ Week 1 loss, while going over 100 yards and catching a touchdown.
However, Kupp’s impact would fluctuate from there and especially dwindled towards the end of the year, where he had under 30 yards in four of the team’s last five games as Puka Nacua grew into the bonafide No. 1 option.
That carried over into the Rams’ first playoff game, where Kupp had just one catch, while playing only 55 percent of the team’s snaps, although he bounced back with a five-catch, 61-yard performance in what appears to be his final game with Los Angeles.
Kupp still has two years on his three-year, $80 million extension that he signed back in 2022, and would have cap hits of $20 million and $19 million in 2025 and 2026. While the Rams could eat some of that money to facilitate a trade, that price tag seems way too hefty for the 49ers.
Then comes the fit. San Francisco currently has an overabundance of wide receivers. They’ve said that Deebo Samuel will return in 2025 on the final year of his contract. Jauan Jennings is a quality piece that still has one year left. They just signed Brandon Aiyuk to a four-year, $120 million deal last offseason. And they drafted Ricky Pearsall in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft to be the future at the position.
Kupp would fit well in the 49ers system, given his route-running capabilities out of the slot. But, he’s going to be 32 years old in 2025 and commands too high of a salary for the 49ers to allocate the resources to obtain him via trade.