Last week, veteran receiver Cooper Kupp announced on social media that the Los Angeles Rams had informed him that they would seek to trade him. The Rams already broached the possibility in the lead-up to last season’s trade deadline, but with the team still in the playoff hunt, head coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead decided to stand pat.
Kupp is scheduled to make $20 million if he’s on the roster next season, $5 million of which is guaranteed. And he will receive a $7.5 million roster bonus on the fifth day of the new league year in March. The Rams are reportedly willing to pay some of his contract to facilitate a trade.
Despite the Rams seeking to deal him, many talent evaluators believe that Kupp, who turns 32 in June, can still play.
“No question,” a longtime NFL scout told FOX Sports last week. “The Rams just don’t want to pay the market. He’s a [WR] 1 or 2 for almost any team. Someone said he’s lost lower body quickness. I don’t buy that. Puka [Nacua] will never be him in hands or awareness.”
Former NFL receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh is even more emphatic in his belief in Kupp. “He absolutely has gas in the tank,” he said. “Premium gas at that.”
So where is the best spot for Kupp to land? Keep an eye on the Cowboys, who have shown a willingness recently to deal for potential playmakers. Last year, they traded a fourth-round selection to the Carolina Panthers for developmental prospect Jonathan Mingo and a seventh-round pick. The year before that, Dallas traded a fourth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for quarterback Trey Lance.
By bringing in Kupp, the Cowboys would get an experienced slot receiver who can operate as a complement to CeeDee Lamb, one of the best receivers in the league. Kupp also fits the way new head coach Brian Schottenheimer wants to operate his offense, has a family history with the Cowboys and a strong connection with the new coaching staff.
Let’s start with the family connection. Kupp’s father, Craig Kupp, was a fifth-round selection of the New York Giants in the 1990 draft and spent part of the 1991 season with the Cowboys as the third-string quarterback. Cooper’s paternal grandfather, Jake Kupp, also played for the Cowboys. A star tight end for the Washington Huskies, Jake was a ninth-round pick by Dallas in 1964 and played two seasons for the Cowboys before being traded to Washington.
As for the staff connection, Kupp has a good relationship with new Dallas receivers coach Junior Adams, who served in that same role at Eastern Washington when Kupp played there. Adams was coached at Oregon State by the current Rams receivers coach Eric Yarber, so Adams knows how to get the best out of Kupp and is intimately familiar with his skill set.
“As hard as he can be on you, I think he sees more in people than they see in themselves a lot of the time,” Kupp told the Seattle Times about Adams and his coaching style. “I think he sees the best in people as well, and he wants to bring that out. He definitely pushed me and really forced me to accept the fact that I could be greater than what my own thoughts were.
“I really credit a lot of my mindset and the way that I’ve gone about my whole career — the mindset I’ve taken into my training, into my preparation — I credit a lot of that to Coach Adams.”
Last summer, the Cowboys got an up-close look at what Kupp can do during two joint practices with the Rams at Dallas’ training camp facility in Oxnard, California. Kupp spent some time chopping it up with quarterback Dak Prescott after practice.
Kupp is the kind of player who comes to work early and leaves late. He would work hard to develop a good rapport with Prescott, the same as he did with Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford during the receiver’s time with the Rams.
Schottenheimer has talked about playing faster and using more cut splits, shifts and motions before the snap. According to Next Gen Stats, the Cowboys used motion 60% of the time in 2024, No. 17 in the NFL. Kupp traveled a league-high 2,820 yards before the snap and was in motion an NFL-high 271 times in 2024, according to Next Gen Stats.
Kupp could also help improve the running game for the Cowboys. For the past handful of years, he’s been one of the best run-blocking receivers in the league, willing to put his body into harm’s way and block bigger players near the line of scrimmage.
Schottenheimer says he wants to run the football more effectively, which hearkens back to his days as Pete Carroll’s offensive coordinator in Seattle. Seven of the top 10 rushing offenses made the playoffs this past season, including two in the NFC East in the Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders.
The Cowboys finished last in the NFL in rushing touchdowns (six) this past season, and No. 30 in rushing yards per play (3.97). Rico Dowdle had a breakout season, posting a career-high 1,079 yards, but he is currently a free agent. In his most recent mock draft, FOX Sports NFL Draft Analyst Rob Rang has the Cowboys taking standout Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, who would upgrade the Dallas rushing attack.
With Prescott returning from injury, the possibility of Jeanty in the backfield and Kupp in the slot, the Cowboys could be back in business in 2025.
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.
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