By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer
The Los Angles Rams cut Super Bowl 56 MVP Cooper Kupp after being unable to find a trade partner for their former No. 1 wide receiver.
The Rams officially moved on from the 2021 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year at the start of the league year on Wednesday.
Kupp announced last month that the Rams were trying to trade him despite his desire to remain with the team. But with him being owed $20 million this season, no other team was willing to make a trade.
Kupp thanked Rams fans in a social media post and said he will savor the memories of his eight seasons with the team, but added that the “best is yet to come.”
“We talked often about the Rams being back in LA and how we would grow to be something special here,” he wrote. “And there was frustration early on around getting the buy-in from the people of LA. But we knew at the end of the day, it’s about providing moments. Shared experiences. The things that parents and their children will talk about and remember forever. That is what makes the ending of these last eight years so difficult. It’s the ending of something we have enjoyed building with you.”
The Rams will take on $22.3 million in dead cap money with $14.8 million coming this year and the rest in 2026 based on the three-year, $80.1 million extension he signed following his transcendent 2021 season.
Kupp. won the receiving triple crown and Super Bowl MVP in the 2021 season when he caught 145 passes for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns. Kupp added 33 catches for 478 yards and six TDs in the postseason, including the game-winning touchdown in a Super Bowl win over Cincinnati on the Rams homefield.
But Kupp’s production tailed off in the past three seasons when he hadn’t played more than 12 games in any season because of injuries and hasn’t had 900 yards receiving in any season.
He had a rough finish this season after he missed four early games with an ankle injury. He struggled to get the ball down the stretch for the Rams, making just 12 catches for 162 yards in the final five games of the regular season during the least productive stretch of his career.
Kupp’s role has been diminished as Puka Nacua has emerged as an elite NFL receiver in the past two seasons. The 2023 fifth-round pick is averaging a whopping 88.4 yards per game, one of the highest averages in league history, and has credited Kupp’s tutelage and leadership for his success.
Los Angeles has also added Davante Adams so far this offseason, signing the three-time All-Pro to a two-year deal that could be worth up to $46 million.
Kupp was drafted in the third round in 2017 out of Eastern Washington in coach Sean McVay’s first draft class. He has been a centerpiece of McVay’s offensive game plans throughout his career, catching 634 passes for 7,776 yards and 57 touchdowns.
The Rams have shown a willingness to move on from star players. General manager Les Snead traded or released Jared Goff, Todd Gurley and Robert Woods in recent years before their own massive contract extensions had even kicked in.
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