Rams, WR Cooper Kupp Agree To Extension
And like that, the Rams have extended another star player. Wide receiver Cooper Kupp has signed a three-year extension with the Rams, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).
The three-year extension will be added to the remaining two years on Kupp’s current deal, locking the Super Bowl MVP into what’s essentially a five-year, $110MM deal. That’s about $80MM in new money, as NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweets. Schefter clarifies on Twitter that Kupp will earn a new $75MM in guaranteed money. Earlier this evening, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport estimated that Kupp and the Rams were zeroing on a three-year deal.
Kupp wasn’t looking to reset the market with his new deal, and while he earned a handsome pay day, it still doesn’t crack the top-five at the position in terms of average annual value. The five-year, $110MM puts Kupp’s AAV at $22MM; that ranks sixth at wide receiver behind Tyreek Hill ($30MM/yr), Davante Adams ($28MM), DeAndre Hopkins ($27.25MM), A.J. Brown ($25MM), and Stefon Diggs ($24MM). In terms of total value, the five upcoming years for Kupp is only rivaled by Adams ($140MM) and Hill ($120MM).
Following an incredible 2021 campaign that saw Kupp lead the NFL in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947), and receiving touchdowns (16) before earning a championship and the Super Bowl MVP, it always seemed inevitable that Kupp would ink a new deal. The team made it clear throughout the offseason that a Kupp extension was a priority, but the team was in no rush to ink the deal with several priorities (including a new contract for Aaron Donald) still unresolved.
Indeed, the organization only inked Donald to a new deal days ago, and they’ve now completed a new contract for Kupp. In only a matter of days, the Rams have committed $205MM to the two players, and while the front office has done an admirable job of getting creative with their cap machinations, there’s no denying the future money the organization has committed to in pursuit of another Super Bowl win. Besides Donald and Kupp, the organization has also handed out a sizable extension to quarterback Matthew Stafford (four years, $160MM) while also signing linebacker Bobby Wagner (five years, $50MM) and wideout Allen Robinson (three years, $46.5MM).
The new deal will keep Kupp in Los Angeles through the 2026 season. This is already Kupp’s third contract, and as Albert Breer of TheMMQB points out on Twitter, this is a good case study in support of shorter extensions being more beneficial for players. Kupp inked a three-year, $48MM extension with the Rams in 2020. The East Washington product entered the NFL as a third-round pick in in 2017.
Kupp was productive as a rookie, but he missed half of his sophomore campaign. The receiver topped 1,000 receiving yards in 2019, and while he exceeded 1,000 yards from scrimmage in 2020, the numbers were still a step down from the previous campaign. Then, with Stafford joining the Rams, Kupp exploded, achieving the NFL’s receiving triple crown. His performance in 2021 earned him a number of accolades, including Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Pro.
Rams Closing In On Extension With WR Cooper Kupp
The Rams are zeroing in on an another big extension. The organization has made “significant progress” on a new deal with star wideout Cooper Kupp, reports NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). While the deal hasn’t been signed, Rapoport suggests that the deal could be finalized as soon as this evening (via Twitter).
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While terms haven’t been reported, Rapoport seems to suggest that it will be a three-year pact. The monetary terms remain to be seen, but Rapoport adds that the deal would place Kupp “among” the highest-paid receivers in the NFL, so the AAV would likely be north of $20MM per year. Rapoport says Kupp could even make north of $25MM AAV, putting the projected extension in the range of 3/$75MM.
The Rams’ offseason priorities obviously included the draft and free agency, but once they finished making additions to their squad, the organization pivoted to their current stars. A report from March indicated that the front office would focus on a new deal with Aaron Donald before pivoting to a Kupp extension. It’s only been days since the team finally agreed to a new deal with the star defensive tackle, but the front office has moved quickly to also pay the Super Bowl MVP.
Kupp inked a three-year, $48MM extension with the Rams in 2020, and the two remaining years would likely be tacked on to a new deal. The 28-year-old receiver set himself up for an even bigger payday following a prolific 2021 campaign. Kupp achieved NFL’s receiving Triple Crown after leading the league in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947), and receiving touchdowns (16), resulting in him earning a long list of accolades (including Offensive Player of the Year). Kupp followed up his remarkable regular season with an even more memorable postseason, hauling in six touchdowns in four games en route to a Super Bowl championship (and the Super Bowl MVP).
The player’s emergence as one of the league’s top players naturally brought up conversations about a new contract, and there were some who questioned if the increasingly expensive Rams would be able to carve out enough money to sign the wideout to a deal that rivaled some of the lucrative WR contracts (including Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams). However, Kupp made it clear that he wasn’t necessarily looking to reset the market with an extension, and his willingness to take a slight discount likely led to easier negotiations.
Texans To Be Included As Defendant In Deshaun Watson Lawsuits
Deshaun Watson may be playing elsewhere, but the Texans are still very much involved in the quarterback’s ongoing legal issues. Attorney Tony Buzbee announced that he is including the Houston Texans organization in the lawsuits against Watson (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com on Twitter).
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“Based on what we have learned from the Houston Police Department, we will soon be joining the Houston Texans organization and others as defendants in the ongoing lawsuits against Deshaun Watson,” the attorney wrote in a message. “Our team has thoroughly vetted each case. We are considering many others. These women are the true heroes in this sordid story. What has become clear is that the Houston Texans organization and their contracting “massage therapy company” facilitated Deshaun Watson’s conduct. In many of these cases, the Texans provided the opportunity for this conduct to occur. We believe the Texans organization was well aware of Watson’s issues but failed to act. They knew or certainly should have known. The Houston Texans organization provided rooms for Watson at the high-end Houstonian hotel for his “massages”; the Texans also provided massage tables and other support for Watson’s proclivities – ostensibly to protect their “asset.” We intend to make sure all involved in Watson’s conduct are held accountable, in addition to and including Watson himself.”
The Texans released a statement responding to the impending lawsuit (via Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com on Twitter):
“We take accusations of this nature that involve anyone within the Houston Texans organization seriously. We will await further information before making any additional statements on this incident.”
Wilson also cites the organization’s statement from March of 2021, when the Texans said they only became aware of the lawsuit that month and hadn’t previously “heard of the matter.”
Buzbee’s talks with the Houston Police Department and lawsuit announcement follows yesterday’s New York Times report that Watson received massages from at least 66 women over a 17-month span from fall 2019 to spring 2021. Civil testimony included in the NYT report had Watson admitting that the Texans helped him with an nondisclosure agreement in 2020, and the player took NDAs to all future massaging sessions. The report also noted that the Texans set up Watson with a membership at the exclusive hotel that the attorney mentioned in his statement. Effectively, Buzbee is alleging that the organization either knew or should have known about Watson’s conduct before everything came to light.
The Browns QB has continued to deny any wrongdoing. The NFL has just about wrapped up their investigation, and a suspension is likely to be announced at some point in July.
Injury Notes: Beathard, Glasgow, Jones, Texans, Bengals
The Jaguars number-two QB went down with an injury yesterday. C.J. Beathard was carted off the field during OTAs, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). According to the reporter, Beathard suffered a groin injury, and an impending MRI will reveal the extent of the injury.
The former third-round pick spent the first four years of his career with the 49ers. Beathard went 2-10 as a starter, completing 58.6 percent of his passes for 3,469 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He signed a two-year, $5MM deal with the Jaguars last offseason, and he got into two games as Trevor Lawrence‘s backup, completing his pair of pass attempts.
If Beathard is forced to miss an extended amount of time, the Jaguars will likely turn to Jake Luton or rookie EJ Perry as Lawrence’s primary backup.
More injury news from around the NFL…
- Broncos lineman Graham Glasgow broke his ankle last November, but the veteran is back at practice and is competing to regain his starting spot. “I’m no stranger to competition,’’ Glasgow said (via Mike Klis of 9News in Denver). “I’ve competed in the past and I’ve competed for starting jobs in the past. This whole offseason, I’ve been competing with myself to get better in my rehab stuff. If I’m healthy, I’m just going to go out there and do what I can and do what I do. We’ll see what comes out of that.” The 29-year-old guard/center has started 78 of his 82 career games, but Klis notes that Quinn Meinerz and/0r Netane Muti could push him for a starting gig.
- Daniel Jones is apparently over his neck injury. Giants head coach Brian Daboll told reporters that if the season started today, then the Giants starting QB would be fully cleared to play (per Dan Duggan of The Athletic on Twitter). After going 4-7 in his 11 starts, Jones missed the final six games of the 2021 campaign with a neck injury. Despite his struggles, the former sixth-overall pick is expected to keep his starting gig in 2022, although the organization did bring in veteran Tyrod Taylor as competition.
- Texans wideout DaeSean Hamilton is set to have knee surgery tomorrow, reports Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com (on Twitter). The receiver suffered the injury during a non-contact drill, but he didn’t tear his ACL and is expected to make a full recovery at some point during the regular season. Hamilton was a fourth-round pick by the Broncos in 2018, and he only missed a pair of games through his first three seasons. He missed the entire 2021 season with a torn ACL, and he caught on with the Texans back in March. The 27-year-old has 81 receptions in 46 games.
- Bengals defensive tackle Tyler Shelvin suffered a wrist injury that will shut him down for the rest of the offseason program, per the team’s website. Coach Zac Taylor told reporters that the former fourth-round pick avoided a serious injury, but the player still needed to go under the knife to repair the ailment. Shelvin got into three games as a rookie, collecting four tackles.
Rams Dealing With RB Injuries
The Rams are dealing with some injuries to their running backs corps. Head coach Sean McVay told reporters that running back Kyren Williams broke his foot and had surgery (via Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic on Twitter). Fortunately, it sounds like Williams will only miss the first few sessions of training camp, but it’s still a tough break for the rookie.
Meanwhile, Darrell Henderson isn’t participating in on-field work as he deals with a “soft-tissue injury.” As Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com writes, Henderson initially aggregated the injury during May OTAs. At the time, McVay indicated that Henderson dealt with the same ailment in 2021, but the RB still managed to appear in 12 games (although he was limited on only a single playoff contest).
While Henderson found himself in and out of the lineup in 2021, he still managed to finish with a career-high 864 yards from scrimmage. Williams was selected in the fifth-round of this year’s draft following a standout career at Notre Dame that saw him collect 31 touchdowns between the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
It’s obviously too early for the Rams to worry about their injury situation, but the team’s depth at RB will certainly be stressed for the time being. The team still has Cam Akers, who led the RB grouping during the Rams’ Super Bowl run, but they lack experienced depth behind him (Henderson and Williams were likely to slot in as the second and third RBs, respectively). As a result, the likes of Jake Funk, Xavier Jones, and Raymond Calais will see increased reps over the next few week, and the current absences could help one of the three snag a final roster spot.
Minor NFL Transactions: 6/7/22
Today’s minor move:
Las Vegas Raiders
- Signed: TE Jesper Horsted
Horsted spent the first three seasons of his career with the Bears after going undrafted out of Princeton in 2019. He saw time in 13 games during his three seasons with Chicago, hauling in 10 receptions for 108 yards and three touchdowns. He was waived by the Bears earlier this month after failing a physical. He’ll be joining a depth chart that already includes six other tight ends.
OL B.J. Finney Retires
B.J. Finney is calling it a career. The offensive lineman told Kellis Robinett of the Wichita Eagle/Kansas City Star that he has “medically retired” from the NFL (Twitter link).
Finney joined the Steelers as an undrafted free agent out of Kansas State in 2015. The prospect was once considered the best center in the NFL Draft, and while teams were unwilling to use a draft pick on him, he was a hot commodity once he hit free agency. Despite the interest (and, presumably, lucrative offers), Finney opted to sign with his favorite team as a child.
After basically redshirting his rookie campaign, the lineman ended up getting into 56 games for Pittsburgh over the next four seasons, including 13 starts. He was never able to overtake Maurkice Pouncey or Ramon Foster in the starting lineup, but his ability to play offensive guard led him to being a top reserve.
Finney got a two-year, $8MM deal from the Seahawks in 2020, but he only got into six games with Seattle before being traded to the Bengals (in a trade for Carlos Dunlap). He saw time in one game for Cincinnati, spending the majority of his tenure on the various reserve lists. He rejoined the Steelers for the 2021 campaign, but after getting into seven games (two starts), a back injury ended his season prematurely.
Colts LB Darius Leonard Had Back Surgery
Darius Leonard recently went under the knife. ESPN’s Mike Wells reports (via Twitter) that the Colts linebacker will have back surgery, but Leonard is expected to be back at some point during training camp. The linebacker himself tweeted that the surgery has already been completed.
“Surgery went well, feeling amazing and ready to get back going!” Leonard tweeted. “If you know me you know I always come back way better than I was! Let’s go man ankle feels amazing and can’t wait to get back moving!”
As Leonard noted, he’s been struggling with an ankle injury throughout the spring that has prevented him from participating in Indy’s offseason workouts. This was the same ankle that Leonard got operated on last offseason, a surgery that forced him to miss time during training camp and ultimately hampered him for much of the 2021 campaign. Fortunately, the team doesn’t believe Leonard will need to undergo a second operation on the troublesome ankle.
However, the linebacker has also been dealing with a back ailment since his season came to an end, and he ultimately decided to get an operation. Joel A. Erickson of the Indy Star writes that the surgery will force Leonard to miss “at least part” of training camp, but the veteran’s absence isn’t expected to extend into the regular season.
While Leonard dealt with injuries throughout last year, he still proved why he’s one of the best linebackers in the NFL, finishing with 122 tackles, four interceptions, and a league-leading eight forced fumbles. The performance earned him a first-team All-Pro nod, the third first-team honor of his career. The 26-year-old inked a whopping five-year, $99.25MM extension (including $52.5MM guaranteed) with the Colts last offseason.
Ravens Sign First-Round Pick Kyle Hamilton
The Ravens have signed their top pick. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that Baltimore has inked Kyle Hamilton to his rookie deal.
The defensive back signed a four-year pact worth a fully guaranteed $16.225MM, and he’ll earn a signing bonus worth a tad more than $9MM. As Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Sun points out, this is one of the largest rookie deals in franchise history, rivaling Ronnie Stanley‘s four-year, $20.5MM deal in 2018 and Joe Flacco‘s five-year, $11.9MM deal (plus another $18MM in incentives) in 2008.
Hamilton had a highly productive three-year career at Notre Dame, collecting 138 tackles and eight interceptions. His ability to play multiple positions at a high level led to him being a projected top-five pick, but his testing numbers, season-ending knee injury, and subpar athletic profile ultimately led to him dropping to Baltimore at No. 15. Still, his versatility (Hamilton played both safety and linebacker in college) makes him an ideal fit for Baltimore’s defense.
The Ravens lost safety DeShon Elliott but replaced him with former-Saints safety Marcus Williams, so there’s a chance Hamilton ends up lining up at linebacker as a rookie. Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald recently described the rookie “as advertised,” with the coach noting that the young player was up for any challenge.
Hamilton wasn’t the only Ravens rookie to sign a contract today. The team also inked cornerback Damarion Williams to his rookie pact (via the team on Twitter). The Houston product appeared in 13 games during his senior season, compiling 53 tackles and one interception.
As our 2022 NFL team-by-team draft results show, Williams and Hamilton are now the fifth and sixth rookie to ink a contract with the Ravens. Second-round linebacker David Ojabo (Michigan) is the highest-drafted player who remains unsigned.
Ravens Eyeing Veteran WRs?
The Ravens’ depth at receiver is shallow, especially following the trade of Marquise Brown. However, it sounds like reinforcement could be coming. Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic writes that the Ravens “will sign or acquire a veteran receiver at some point before training camp.”
2021 first-round pick Rashod Bateman is likely the only receiver with a secure spot on the depth chart. Otherwise, the receivers room consists of unproven players, including Devin Duvernay, James Proche II, Tylan Wallace, Binjimen Victor, Jaylon Moore, and a whopping six undrafted rookies. Of course, the team’s passing attack is also highlighted by tight end Mark Andrews.
While Zrebic expects a transaction, he does note that the team isn’t operating like an organization that’s “desperate” for a receiver. That’s likely a “vote of confidence” for the team’s current crop of wideouts, and while the team may be seeking additional depth, they’ll still be heavily relying on the receivers who are currently on the roster.
“We like our receivers, we do,” DeCosta said recently (via Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Sun). “We’ve seen growth, we’ve seen our guys mature and develop. … We will add players to the mix. We’re doing that right now, and we’ll look at veteran players as well. It wasn’t really by design that we wanted to create a hole on the team. I don’t look at it that way, but in this business, you pivot, you dodge, you weave — you’re always really going to be chasing a need. Every team in the league would tell you that you’re chasing needs.”
What veterans could Baltimore turn to? The Ravens really haven’t been definitively connected to any free agents, but it’s worth noting that the organization pursued veteran T.Y. Hilton last offseason. The long-time Colts wide receiver remains unsigned. Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr., Emmanuel Sanders, and DeSean Jackson are other veteran FA wideouts.