Tag: Cooper Kupp

9 trade targets for Patriots to appease Tom Brady before free agency

Looking at the WRs and TEs on the trade market.

The New England Patriots need to add difference-makers at their skill positions if they want to retain quarterback Tom Brady. The pending free agent is interested in returning to the team, but he’s reportedly unlikely to go back to New England without a stronger supporting cast than the one he had in 2019.

So if the Patriots don’t want him to hit free agency, they better start with the trade market. And it’s not unreasonable to think they can land a big name over the next two weeks. At this time last year, a number of high-profile players – including like Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. – changed teams. The Patriots may be interested in a large slash this offseason.

Here are some ideas.

1. Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Browns

Cleveland may make for a challenging trade partner after it acquired Beckham just one year ago. But the Patriots could start by putting the 23rd overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on the table to get the conversation started. The package gets a lot sweeter with that pick involved.

Beckham has made it clear he’d be interested in playing with Brady. This might be the special offense the Patriots envisioned with Antonio Brown before he faced allegations of sexual assault and rape.

2. The Rams wideouts

Cooper Kupp would be an excellent fit outside for the Patriots. His deal expires in 2020, and L.A. may anticipate that it won’t be able to pay him. Then there’s Robert Woods, who could play any of the Patriots’ receiver positions. His deal expires in 2021 and is team-friendly, which makes it even more intriguing for New England. And finally, Brandin Cooks will likely be available. It would be laughably Belichickian to buy low on Cooks. But his health (concussions) probably makes him too big of a risk.

3. Kenny Golladay, WR, Lions

He has been one of the most impressive young wideouts in the NFL over the last two seasons, but he’ll be a free agent in 2021. Will the Lions extend him? Or might they trade him in anticipation of a rebuild? It’s likely that with Matt Patricia and Jon Robinson’s jobs on the line, they avoid trading Golladay. But it’s worth a call for Bill Belichick. Lions receiver Marvin Jones isn’t a bad trade option either.

4. Corey Davis, WR, Titans

He’s hitting the final year of his rookie deal, and Tennessee is unlikely to give him a fifth-year option. Why not trade him now?

5. Curtis Samuel, WR, Panthers

Samuel is also entering the final year of his contract, and Carolina, which is likely to be in a full rebuild, is unlikely to extend his deal. New England could scoop him up for a one-year rental.

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5 players the Rams could sign to extensions this offseason

The Rams have to be looking ahead to the 2021 offseason.

(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Rams have their hands full with the five starters who are set to become free agents, but building a roster in the NFL doesn’t consist of narrowly looking toward the upcoming season. It involves a wider scope that includes looking ahead to future years with the salary cap in mind.

That being said, the Rams could potentially sign a player or two to extensions one year before they become free agents – something they like to do and have done with Rob Havenstein, Tyler Higbee, Todd Gurley and Jared Goff in recent years.

“You have to take it in process, but strategically we’ve always enjoyed checking that box for not only us, but for the player so that we all know, OK, we’re here together and we’re working toward the same goals for a long time,” Snead said at the combine of extending players early.

Here are five players the Rams could consider extending this offseason rather than waiting.

WR Cooper Kupp

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The Rams already have two wideouts under contract for the next few years with Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks. However, Kupp will be a free agent after the 2020 season and continues to get better each and every year.

If the Rams want to potentially save some money, they can sign him to an extension this offseason before he puts up great numbers again in 2020. If he does that, and with the salary cap always increasing, his price tag is only going to grow. Kupp’s eventual contract could replace that of Cooks’ if the Rams move on at some point, too.

This isn’t to say the Rams should sign him to a new deal now, but it’s certainly something that’s on the table.

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Rams 2010s All-Decade Team: Offense

Breaking down the best offensive players to play for the Los Angeles (and St. Louis) Rams during the 2010s.

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

The 2010s were quite an eventful decade for the Rams franchise. They played in two different cities, had the first overall pick twice, played in a Super Bowl, drafted a generational talent and a massive bust in the first round of the same draft, won two games in a season, hired a coach who produced a timeless meme, and hired another coach who changed how teams hire coaches in the NFL.

There were some incredible highs and some devastating lows. This list is no different. There are players on this list that would make anybody’s overall NFL All-Decade team, and there are players on this list that maybe shouldn’t have even been starting games in the NFL. The Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams of the 2010s were a rollercoaster ride. This list will give you a chance to relive it.

To select our All-Decade Team, we only considered what players did between the 2010 and 2019 seasons. For example, when considering Steven Jackson, we wouldn’t take into account his entire career with the Rams, just his three years playing for the team this decade.

Let’s get into it, starting with the offense.

Quarterback: Jared Goff (2016 – 2019)

(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Goff is the only real option here. In his three full seasons as the Rams starting quarterback, Goff threw for 13,130 yards while completing 63% of his passes. He tossed 82 touchdown passes against 35 interceptions and added five touchdowns on the ground. His rookie season may have been abysmal, but Goff bounced back with two very impressive seasons in 2017 and 2018. He was the first Rams quarterback to be selected to back-to-back Pro Bowls since Kurt Warner in 2000-2001.

Most importantly, he’s helped the team win football games – something the Rams’ other QBs from last decade struggled to do. The Rams have put together three straight winning seasons for the first time since the days of the Greatest Show on Turf. Goff played a significant role in leading the Rams to a 13-3 record and a Super Bowl appearance in 2018. He holds a 33-14 record as the Rams starting quarterback since 2017.

Goff left a lot to be desired in 2019, but his overall tenure with the Rams has been a success. Let’s hope he can return to form in 2020 and cement himself as the quarterback for next decade’s team.

Honorable Mention: Sam Bradford

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Cooper Kupp received one vote for Comeback Player of the Year

Cooper Kupp only got one vote for Comeback Player of the Year, which Ryan Tannehill won.

Cooper Kupp’s second NFL season was cut short when he suffered a torn ACL, limiting him to only eight games in 2018. He was on a great pace before getting hurt, likely in line to go over 1,000 yards receiving.

He bounced back from the injury this past season by playing all 16 games, catching 94 passes for 1,161 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was the only player in the NFL to catch at least 90 passes for 1,100 yards and 10 touchdowns, and that was with him having a very quiet second half of the season.

It was an impressive turnaround after a devastating injury less than a year prior, but it wasn’t enough to earn him Comeback Player of the Year honors. That award went to Ryan Tannehill, who went from being a backup to leading the Titans to the AFC Championship Game after unseating Marcus Mariota as the starter.

Kupp did get some recognition for the award, receiving one vote along with four other players. Tannehill received 16 votes, barely beating out Jimmy Garoppolo (15).

In most other years, Kupp would’ve been one of the top candidates for this award. But there was some stiff competition, led by two quarterbacks who shined in 2019.

Only receiving one vote shouldn’t take away from the remarkable season Kupp had in Year 3 with the Rams. He was Jared Goff’s go-to receiver for most of the year, with the peak coming in Week 8 when he caught seven passes for 220 yards and a touchdown against the Bengals.

If 2019 proved anything, it’s that Kupp is one of the better receivers in the league, and a key playmaker for the Rams.

Cooper Kupp says Rams have ‘all the faith in the world’ in Jared Goff

Cooper Kupp isn’t worried about Jared Goff’s struggles in 2019.

Jared Goff was a Pro Bowler in 2017 and 2018, but his play fell off a bit this past season. He and the entire Rams offense regressed and came up well short of expectations, missing the playoffs for the first time since Sean McVay took over.

Fans are understandably frustrated and concerned by Goff’s struggles in 2019, but his teammates don’t feel that way. They still have faith in Goff and believe he’ll be just fine moving forward.

TMZ caught up with Cooper Kupp at LAX recently and the wide receiver is confident Goff will turn things around next season.

“We have all the faith in the world in Jared, absolutely love him, one of my good friends,” Kupp said. “So we’re going to be just fine. We’re going to work hard, things are going to come together. We’ve just got to get back out there and play again.”

Kupp was asked if it’s ridiculous and unfair for Goff to be criticized as much as he is despite playing well the previous two seasons. Kupp chalked it up to expectations being high for everyone.

“Expectations are high, which isn’t a bad thing,” he said. “We have high expectations for ourselves, too. It is what it is.”

Goff still put up big yardage numbers in 2019, throwing for 4,638 yards – only 50 shy of his 2018 total. The problem is he also threw a career-high 16 interceptions and only 22 touchdown passes – his fewest since he was a rookie.

With as much talent as the Rams have, it’s reasonable to expect Goff and the entire team to rebound next season. But at the same time, there’s still a lot that needs to be figured out, mostly with the impending free agents.

How Cooper Kupp, 3 other Rams doubled their salaries for 2020

Four Rams players entering their fourth seasons earned significant raises in 2020.

The NFL rewards players who outperform their draft position and earn significant playing time in their first three seasons, and four Rams players are earning raises in 2020 as a result. That’s done with Proven Performance Escalators, which players drafted in the third round or later can qualify for.

In order to earn the PPE, players either have to play 35% of their team’s snaps (offense or defense) in two of their first three years, or play at least 35% of the total snaps over the course of their first three seasons.

For 2020, these PPEs go to players drafted in 2017. The Rams nailed that draft class and have gotten key contributions from players selected that year, primarily with Cooper Kupp and John Johnson. Josh Reynolds and Samson Ebukam have also played key roles in the last three years and all three qualify for PPEs in 2020.

Kupp has played 63.7% of the snaps in his career, with Johnson playing 65.9%. Both players missed significant time in the last two years due to injury, each landing on IR. Ebukam was a starter in 2018 and has played 50.7% of the defensive snaps, while Reynolds has played 41.9%.

All four players will see their salaries increase in 2020, and not by an insignificant amount. Their base salaries will rise to the lowest restricted free agent tender amount in 2020, which is projected to be $2.144 million, according to Over The Cap.

Here’s how much each player’s base salary was set to be in 2020 before earning PPEs.

  • Kupp: $961,169
  • Johnson: $775,577
  • Reynolds: $735,000
  • Ebukam: $735,000

This will have an impact on the salary cap for the Rams, costing the team about $4.6 million more than originally expected. Of course, the Rams knew these raises were coming, so it’s not as if this is a surprise to Les Snead and the front office. If the salary cap is $200 million in 2020, the Rams will have about $21 million in cap space after these raises take effect.

All four players will also be free agents in 2021.

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Cooper Kupp was NFL’s most productive slot WR in 2019

Cooper Kupp led the NFL in receiving yards from the slot.

Cooper Kupp has far outperformed his draft slot after being a third-round pick in 2017. In three seasons, he’s already caught 196 passes for 2,596 yards and 21 touchdowns. He’s one of 11 players in the NFL with at least 190 catches, 2,500 yards and 20 touchdowns in that span, and that’s with missing nine games.

Kupp stayed healthy for all 16 games this season, putting together the best year of his young career thus far. He caught 94 of the 134 passes thrown his way, gaining 1,161 yards receiving with 10 touchdown catches.

He primarily lines up in the slot, but not all of his production came from that position. With the way the Rams offense moves its receivers around, he lined up all over the formation. That being said, most of yards came inside.

There wasn’t a single receiver in the NFL with more yards from the slot this season, making Kupp the most productive in football

The peak of Kupp’s season came in Week 8 when he torched the Bengals for 220 yards on seven catches. He beat man and zone coverage in that game, pushing himself into the conversation as one of the best receivers in the league.

Since then, Kupp never reached 100 yards again and only caught 36 passes for 369 yards in his final eight games. Had he posted a similar second half as his first eight games (58 catches, 792 yards), he would’ve had a good chance to make the Pro Bowl.

Unfortunately, he cooled off and faded down the stretch as the Rams limited his playing time and went with more heavy packages on offense. That’s not to take away from the season he had, but it could’ve been even more special for the third-year receiver.

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Rams hand out 2019 awards: Donald wins MVP, Kupp and Rapp honored

Aaron Donald was named the Rams’ most valuable player of 2019.

As deflating as it was for the Los Angeles Rams to miss the playoffs, there’s still plenty the team can be proud of and hang its hat on. There were breakout performances by a few players, while others established themselves as starters in 2020 and beyond.

To honor the best players from 2019, the Rams announced individual awards to four individuals before their season finale.

Aaron Donald won MVP, Taylor Rapp was named the team’s best rookie, Eric Weddle was selected for the Spirit of the Game Award and Cooper Kupp earned the Ed Block Courage Award for sportsmanship and courage.

Donald leads the team with 12.5 sacks and is No. 1 in the NFL with 20 tackles for loss, once again dominating from the interior. Without him, the defense would look vastly different. He impacts the game in ways no other player does, consistently wreaking havoc in the backfield.

Rapp has been a stud since taking over for John Johnson as a starting safety, recording 93 tackles, seven passes defensed and one interception, which he returned for a touchdown. He still has room to grow, but he showed why the Rams were so high on him in the draft.

His mentor, Weddle, had an up-and-down season. He started out strong, but hasn’t made much of an impact in recent weeks. That being said, he’s still a leader on defense, not only helping Rapp but everyone else from Jalen Ramsey to Troy Hill.

And finally, Kupp earns the Ed Block Courage Award, “which is given to a player who is a role model of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage.” He bounced back after tearing his ACL last season, catching 87 passes for 1,062 yards and nine touchdowns in 15 games so far this season.

Since 220-yard game, Cooper Kupp’s impact has been minimal

Cooper Kupp has 239 yards in his last six games since his 220-yard performance in Week 9.

Just before the Rams had their bye in Week 9, Cooper Kupp put together the best performance of his career – and one of the best games in franchise history. Apparently, that week off broke any sort of momentum Kupp was gaining because since then, he’s been mediocre, at best.

In that Week 8 game against the Bengals, Kupp caught seven passes for 220 yards and one touchdown. It was his first career 200-yard game and the fifth 100-yard game of 2019. In the six games since then, he’s caught 25 of 33 targets for only 239 yards and three touchdowns.

Kupp is averaging only 7.2 yards per target in his last six games, whereas in that game against Cincinnati in London, he averaged 22 yards per target – an admittedly impossible rate to maintain.

The Rams are only 3-3 in those six games since Kupp’s huge performance and he’s only been targeted more than six times in a game once. In the first half of the season (eight games), he had seven-plus targets in a game seven times and had four games with at least 10 targets.

In other words, he was Jared Goff’s favorite target, and it wasn’t particularly close. The question now is, what happened?

It’s not necessarily the result of Kupp suddenly becoming an ineffective receiver. He’s caught all 16 of his targets in the last three weeks and has a catch rate of 86.2% – the highest of any player in the NFL with at least 20 catches in that span.

He isn’t dropping passes, he simply isn’t getting many opportunities in the passing game. Sean McVay has opted for more usage of 12 personnel, which takes a receiver off the field in favor of a tight end. Some of the time, that’s been Kupp – especially in Weeks 13 and 14. He played just 72% of the snaps in Week 13 against the Cardinals and a minuscule 28% against Seattle.

Robert Woods has supplanted Kupp as the top option for Goff in the second half of the season, being targeted 56 times in five games. He’s hardly come off the field for the Rams, catching 37 passes for 479 yards and one touchdown since the bye.

Tyler Higbee is also getting more playing time with Gerald Everett out and is taking a big chunk of the targets away from Kupp. In the last four weeks, Higbee has 31 catches on 39 targets for 354 yards. In that same stretch, Kupp has 22 catches (26 targets) for 186 yards.

Kupp is an important player on offense, which makes his usage since the Week 9 bye hard to understand. We all saw what happened when he was lost to a torn ACL last season, as Goff’s efficiency dropped off a cliff.

The Rams must get Kupp going against the 49ers, who boast an elite pass defense that’s “up there in league history,” according to McVay. In the slot, Kupp can be a reliable weapon for Goff when given opportunities. Those opportunities have just been hard to come by lately.

Which Rams players should be selected to 2020 Pro Bowl?

(Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) The NFL will reveal its Pro Bowl rosters on Tuesday night, announcing which players will take part in the star-studded game in January. The Rams have sent several players to the Pro Bowl in each of the last two …

(Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)

The NFL will reveal its Pro Bowl rosters on Tuesday night, announcing which players will take part in the star-studded game in January. The Rams have sent several players to the Pro Bowl in each of the last two years, ranging from Aaron Donald to Todd Gurley to Jared Goff, but they may not be as well-represented this season.

In the midst of a down year, here are three players who are deserving of being named to the 2020 Pro Bowl.

DT Aaron Donald

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Donald surprisingly isn’t the top vote-getter at defensive tackle anymore, being overtaken by DeForest Buckner of the 49ers. Still, Donald is a lock to make the Pro Bowl, given the way he’s played this season. He won’t come close to the 20.5 sacks he had last year, sitting at 11.0 with two games remaining, but he leads the league with 19 tackles for loss and has 28 hurries – only two fewer than last year.

He’s arguably the best defensive player in the league and is the favorite to win his third straight Defensive Player of the Year award, so how could he not make the Pro Bowl?

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