It would seem that another divorce could be imminent for a star receiver.
Rams veteran Cooper Kupp ominously told ESPN that whether he plays with the Rams next season is “out of his control.”
Kupp, who was on the trade block early in the season after a terrible 1-4 start, has two years remaining on his contract and surely will have a market if he becomes available.
“Who knows what’s going to happen,” Kupp said in the locker room after the Eagles defeated the Rams, 28-22, in the divisional round Sunday in Philadelphia. “I feel like I’ve got a lot of good football left in me. I’ll be playing football next year. That much I know.”
Kupp made five catches for 61 yards in the Rams’ loss, although the star receiver clearly fell behind budding star Puka Nacua for targets during the season.
Kupp ended the regular season with 710 receiving yards in 12 games (59.2 yards per game), while Nacua accumulated 990 yards in 11 games (90 yards per game).
The former Super Bowl MVP expressed frustration with his lack of production.
“There’s all these things you’re weathering through offensively, things that I feel like, man, we should be better than the product we’re putting out there in terms of the production and the points that are being scored,” Kupp continued. “And then just for me personally feeling like, man, there’s things, I’m watching the film, feeling good about football and playing, but production-wise, it’s not showing up. And a lot of stuff’s outside of my control. And it is frustrating.”
Adding to the speculation is that the Rams seemed willing to move on from Kupp this season.
Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz previously hinted on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd that had the Rams not won in Week 8 against the Vikings, they would have traded away key pieces.
The Chiefs talked to the Rams about a trade prior to acquiring DeAndre Hopkins.
“Had they lost that game, I think, and I think most teams believe, it wouldn’t have been a fire sale, but I think the Rams would have been open for business,” Schultz said.
Los Angeles decided not to trade away any of its pieces and rebounded from a 1-4 start to finis 10-7, win a division title, notch a playoff victory and fall just short of an NFC Championship game appearance.
