By Dianna Russini, Jourdan Rodrigue, Jon Machota, Saad Yousuf and Mark Puleo
Star wide receiver Cooper Kupp is expected to decide Friday on his next home, and two teams — the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks — are very interested, league sources said.
The Los Angeles Rams released the 31-year-old Wednesday after an eight-year run that included an All-Pro selection and a Super Bowl MVP award. The team and Kupp’s representatives worked to find a trade partner but could not before his release.
The Seahawks, like the Rams, are retooling their wide receiver room. The team released veteran mainstay Tyler Lockett after a 10-year stretch in Seattle, then traded Pro Bowler DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers. They also pivoted at quarterback from Geno Smith to Sam Darnold.
Kupp previously worked with Seattle pass game coordinator Jake Peetz when Peetz was an offensive assistant and pass game specialist with the Rams in 2022 and 2023.
In Dallas, Kupp would not only team with All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb but would reunite with receivers coach Junior Adams, who coached Kupp at Eastern Michigan. An upgrade at No. 2 receiver is an obvious need for the Cowboys, who traded for Brandin Cooks two years ago to fill that role. Cooks is a free agent now after struggling to stay healthy in 2024 en route to career lows of 26 catches and 259 yards.
Kupp is the type of receiver who fits Dak Prescott’s strengths. Cooks was an excellent locker room leader but never meshed with Prescott on the field. Kupp would fit like a glove and complement Lamb well, allowing first-year Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer to move both receivers all over the field.
It’s a move that also makes a ton of sense for the Cowboys on paper and in the papers. Cooks and Stephon Gilmore were both trade acquisitions a couple of years ago, so Kupp would be the Cowboys’ biggest free-agent signing in recent history.
It would then allow Jalen Tolbert to be the No. 3 wide receiver with KaVontae Turpin, Jonathan Mingo, Jalen Brooks and Ryan Flournoy competing for the other spots. If Dallas can’t land Kupp then wide receiver will remain one of Dallas’ top offseason needs, which could be addressed as early as the No. 12 pick in April’s draft.
Kupp finished the 2024 regular season with 67 catches for 710 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games. His targets dwindled during the back stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs. He had four catches on nine targets over the last three regular-season games, was targeted once for one catch against Minnesota in the wild-card round and caught five passes on seven targets against the Eagles in the divisional-round loss. In his 14 games (including the postseason) this season, Kupp had 10 or more targets just four times and eight or more targets six times.
(Photo: Norm Hall / Getty Images)
