Rams To Release Cooper Kupp; Latest On WR’s Market
No Cooper Kupp trade partner has emerged. The Rams are moving on via release, NFL.com’s Tom Pelisseso reports. Releasing Kupp after the start of the 2025 league year (3pm CT today) will allow for a post-June 1 designation.
This will make Kupp a first-time free agent, and although no trade materialized, Kupp will generate FA interest, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo adds. At least three teams have known interest, Fox Sports’ Peter Schrager notes. The Packers should be a team to watch here, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweets, mentioning the Seahawks and Titans as potential fits as well. The Raiders would also be interested, per The Athletic’s Tashan Reed, though they do not appear willing to make this move without a notable discount.
Kupp will join a host of accomplished early-30-something WRs in free agency. Stefon Diggs, Keenan Allen, Amari Cooper and Tyler Lockett are also available. None put together a season quite like what Kupp did in 2021, though his injuries since will limit his market. Kupp’s availability also stands to affect the above-referenced wideouts’ markets, as it is becoming crowded at receiver in free agency. Diontae Johnson joins this cast, but the veteran starter’s complicated 2024 has tanked his stock.
The Rams will be on the hook for a $5MM Kupp salary guarantee this year and prorated signing bonus money in 2025 and ’26. They will, however, avoid a $7.5MM roster bonus by moving on now. Kupp was due a $12.5MM base salary in 2025. The Rams can split the $22.26MM dead money bill over two offseasons with a post-June 1 designation. That expected move will create $15MM in 2025 cap savings.
Kupp, 31, said Sean McVay told him he would be traded shortly after the season. The former triple-crown winner made the Rams’ intentions public, indicating he was out after eight seasons. Although the Rams were willing to eat salary in a trade, teams waited them out and will determine FA proposals. Les Snead said Kupp’s $7.5MM bonus, which was due in a few days, served as the deadline for a decision and never made it sound like a ninth season together was in the cards.
Between the time the Rams informed Kupp he would be out of the picture soon and the actual release transpiring, the team signed Davante Adams. The three-time All-Pro will step in alongside Puka Nacua. The Rams’ Adams contract only brings 2025 guarantees, as a 2026 cut with a bit of dead money attached would be in play if that does not prove a it. Adams, however, has stayed much healthier than Kupp and has shown more consistency as a high-end receiver — even if Kupp has produced this decade’s best WR season.
The former third-round pick out of Division I-FCS Eastern Washington, Kupp made the closest push to Calvin Johnson‘s single-season receiving record. He paired 145 receptions and 16 touchdowns with the 1,947 passing yards. Kupp also trails only 2008 Larry Fitzgerald for yards in a single playoffs, having totaled 478 and six TDs — including a Super Bowl LVI game-winner — to help the Rams to a title. Significant injury trouble intervened in the years that followed, as ankle and hamstring maladies kept him off the field for 18 games over the past three seasons.
The Rams had given Kupp two extensions, with the second coming less than two years after the first. Kupp agreed to a three-year, $47.25MM extension in 2020 — after he had bounced back from a 2018 ACL tear with a 1,000-yard 2019 — and he inked a three-year, $80.1MM deal months after Super Bowl LVI.
Kupp ultimately could not deliver on the second payday, though he still showed he has starter-level form in his tank. He posted 710 receiving yards and six TDs in 12 games last season, though the team did not turn to him much down the stretch. We will soon find out how other clubs value him, especially on a crowded market.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/11/25
Here are today’s minor moves from around the NFL:
Buffalo Bills
- Re-signed: FB Reggie Gilliam
- Signed: RB Darrynton Evans
Chicago Bears
- Re-signed: LS Scott Daly
Dallas Cowboys
- Re-signed: P Bryan Anger
Detroit Lions
- Re-signed: DT Myles Adams
Houston Texans
- Re-signed: S M.J. Stewart
- Signed: LB Nick Niemann
Indianapolis Colts
- Re-signed: C Wesley French
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: TE Robert Tonyan, LB Cole Christiansen
Los Angeles Rams
- Suspended: WR Drake Stoops
Miami Dolphins
- Re-signed: LB Quinton Bell
New Orleans Saints
- Re-signed: WR/KR Dante Pettis
Tennessee Titans
- Re-signed: S Mike Brown
Washington Commanders
- Re-signed: RB Jeremy McNichols
Anger is a 13-year veteran who has spent the last four years in Dallas, which included Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors in 2021 and 2023. He will stay with the Cowboys on a two-year deal, per ESPN’s Todd Archer.
Tonyan had a few strong seasons in Green Bay earlier in his career, but he has struggled to produce over the last two years. He spent 2024 in Minnesota, but only played 15 snaps on offense with zero targets. He will add tight end depth in Kansas City.
Stoops received a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s Performance-Enhancing Substances Policy, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. He will be eligible to participate in training camp and preseason games, but will be sidelined for the first two games of the regular season.
McNichols is staying in Washington on a one-year deal, according to Pelissero. The seven-year veteran appeared in 17 games for the Commanders in 2024 and rushed for 261 yards and four touchdowns on 55 attempts. McNichols will likely continue as Washington’s RB3 behind Brian Robinson and Austin Ekeler.
Rams To Bring Back C Coleman Shelton
After a year in Chicago, Coleman Shelton is returning to Los Angeles. The Rams are re-signing their former starting center, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
Shelton is coming back to L.A. on a two-year deal. This comes soon after one of the Rams’ 2024 center options, Jonah Jackson, has been traded to the Bears. Jackson had been in talks with the Rams for more than a day, ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin notes.
This will bring back a player who started 17 games for the 2023 Rams, and Shelton went on to start 17 games for the Bears last season. Although the Rams closed last season with Day 3 rookie Beaux Limmer as their starting center, Shelton will bring far more experience and durability to the post.
The Rams had both attempted to slide Steve Avila and then Jackson to center last year, but neither plan ended up sticking. Jackson ended up benched for Limmer, a sixth-round pick. Limmer, who is under contract for two more seasons, started 14 Rams games as a rookie and played all 916 of his snaps at center.
ESPN’s pass block win rate metric slotted Shelton 15th among interior O-lineman last season, though the Bears are overhauling their interior O-line. After trading for Jackson and Joe Thuney, the Bears paid up for Drew Dalman to come over from Atlanta. That trio will complement rookie-contract tackles Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright. Shelton, 29, is heading back to L.A. to potentially reclaim his old job.
Rams Close To Cutting WR Cooper Kupp
As the 2025 league year looms, the Rams are approaching a deadline with Cooper Kupp. Although a bit more time remains until the standout wide receiver’s $7.5MM roster bonus is due, Kupp is on the verge of free agency.
The Rams have tried to trade Kupp but are close to releasing him. Barring an 11th-hour trade, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Kupp will be cut after the new league year begins. The Rams could make Kupp a post-June 1 release beginning at 3pm CT on March 12.
A parting of the ways has been expected for some time. The 31-year-old acknowledged back in January that he may have already played his last snap for the Rams, and shortly thereafter, it was reported that Los Angeles was actively shopping the 2021 Triple Crown winner. When speaking about the matter last week, GM Les Snead indicated his club could retain Kupp, though he noted that was the least likely option.
Shortly after those comments were made, Snead pulled the trigger on a two-year, $46MM contract for Davante Adams, effectively confirming Kupp’s departure. As the team moves forward with Puka Nacua, Adams, and the recently-resigned Tutu Atwell at the top of its WR depth chart, Kupp will be seeking a change of scenery. By cutting him prior to March 17, the Rams will avoid paying the above-referenced roster bonus, and using the post-June 1 designation will allow LA to save $15MM in cap space (albeit with a corresponding dead cap charge of roughly the same amount, as $5MM of the bonus is guaranteed in full).
The fact that a release loomed as the probable outcome certainly put a damper on Kupp’s trade market, and his recent injury woes and general downturn in production did not help (he has seen his yards-per-game average drop from 90.2 to 61.4 to 59.2 since the start of the 2022 season while playing in 33 of a possible 51 regular season games over the past three years). Still, a healthy Kupp would be a valuable addition to any number of clubs in need of a pass-catcher, and he should not linger on the open market for too long.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Rams To Sign DL Poona Ford
Poona Ford will remain in Los Angeles next season, but he will not be a member of the Chargers. The veteran defensive lineman has a deal in place with the Rams.
This will be a three-year pact, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports. The deal is worth just under $30MM and includes $17MM in guarantees. That marks a notable raise compared to Ford’s one-year Chargers contract from last year.
Not seeing too much time with the Bills in 2023, Ford played a much bigger role with the Bolts. Logging a 32% snap share in 2023 with Buffalo (in eight games), Ford stepped in as a starter on Jim Harbaugh’s low-cost defensive line. The former Seahawk stood out, ranking as Pro Football Focus’ No. 5 overall interior defender.
Ford, 29, matched his career high with eight tackles for loss and contributed three sacks to help Jesse Minter’s defense climb to No. 1 in points allowed. The Bolts relied on other low-cost cogs to make this ascent — after underachieving during Brandon Staley’s time in charge — but Ford was quite important, starting every game the team played during a rebound season. The seven-year vet also batted down five passes and intercepted another.
Quietly running his career start total to 81 (after a four-season run as a Seattle first-stringer), Ford did well to reestablish his value before it was too late to fetch a quality contract. This deal also dwarfs his two-year, $12.4MM Seattle pact from earlier this decade. Ford will join a Rams team that lost two-year nose tackle Bobby Brown to the Panthers. Ford will be in position to play alongside Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske up front with the Rams.
Sam Robinson contributed to this post.
Rams To Re-Sign Jimmy Garoppolo
Sean McVay said recently he wanted the Rams to re-sign Jimmy Garoppolo. After the team took care of its higher-profile quarterback matter, QB2 continuity is on tap.
The latest veteran to stop through and back up Matthew Stafford, Garoppolo has a one-year deal in place to stay with the Rams, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo reported on NFL Network. Garoppolo secured a similar base value ($4.51MM) compared to his 2024 contract, but NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero adds $9MM in incentives are also included. This would seemingly pertain to potential Garoppolo starts, should Stafford go down.
Garoppolo followed Baker Mayfield and Carson Wentz into town as the Rams’ backup QB. Unlike Mayfield, Garoppolo did not need to play any games of consequence. Although the Rams could have moved up in the NFC playoff seeding hierarchy, they sat a host of starters in Week 18. Garoppolo received the start and played well, throwing for 334 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to the Seahawks.
The Rams had given Garoppolo a landing spot after a rough Raiders season. The Raiders had benched Garoppolo, after Davante Adams had made calls for it during a season in which the team fired Josh McDaniels, and made him a post-June 1 cut. In a rather interesting turn, Garoppolo and Adams are back together. The Rams acquired the All-Pro receiver Sunday night. If Stafford’s injury trouble produces an absence, Netflix’s Receiver project will be worth circling back to as a reminder of how poorly that QB-WR fit was in Las Vegas.
Garoppolo, 33, had been the 49ers’ primary starter for five seasons. He guided the team to Super Bowl LIV and then helped San Francisco out of a jam the Trey Lance miss caused, coming off the trade block to sign a reworked deal to stay in 2022. While the 49ers advanced to the NFC title game once again, it was Brock Purdy at the controls that year.
Making 64 career starts, Garoppolo has seen a litany of injuries keep that number fairly low. He suffered an ACL tear in September 2018 and played only six games in 2020, as ankle trouble surfaced. After playing through multiple injuries in 2021, Garoppolo suffered a Jones fracture to introduce Purdy to the NFL world in 2022. He missed two games with the Raiders in 2023 and ended up on the backup tier soon after the team’s McDaniels firing.
The Rams want to develop a young QB behind Stafford, via The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue, but Stetson Bennett has not proven to be that option. For now, Garoppolo will remain the team’s Stafford insurance policy.
Rams Sign WR Davante Adams
11:40pm: Adams’ deal contains an $8MM 2025 base salary and a $16MM number in 2026, per ESPN.com’s Sarah Barshop, who adds a more notable number due in March 2026. Adams will be due a $6MM roster bonus on Day 3 of the 2026 league year. While Adams’ 2025 base salary is guaranteed, the Rams would appear to have something of an out in 2026.
Though, Barshop adds Adams landed a $12MM signing bonus. Half of that would account for dead money if the Rams cut him in 2026. This still looks like a wait-and-see situation, as SI.com’s Albert Breer adds only the $20MM from the signing bonus and 2025 base is guaranteed.
5:55pm: Davante Adams‘ West Coast aspirations are coming true. The Rams are bringing in the All-Pro wide receiver, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. The team has announced the signing.
The Rams are giving the decorated receiver a two-year, $46MM deal, Rapoport adds. He will see $26MM guaranteed. This is quite the haul for a player who will be 33 by year’s end. But Adams was by far the most productive receiver who changed teams last season, outshining Amari Cooper, DeAndre Hopkins and Mike Williams. Adams posted 854 yards in 11 Jets games and has secured another big payday.
Officially releasing Adams last week, the Jets made the three-time All-Pro a street free agent. That allowed him to speak with teams before the legal tampering period, which starts Monday. The Rams, who have not yet separated from Cooper Kupp, are spending big bucks to help Matthew Stafford after his recent recommitment to the team.
Linked to a West Coast landing spot weeks ago, the Fresno State alum sought at least $20MM per year and indeed was looking to return to his home state, Rapoport adds. Adams will now pair with Puka Nacua, coming in as a hired gun as the Rams — after losses in the wild-card and divisional rounds over the past two years — attempt to book a third Super Bowl berth in the Sean McVay era.
McVay told Kupp early this offseason the Rams were moving on, and Sunday night’s news cements it. Three years after giving Kupp a three-year, $80MM extension following his triple-crown season, the Rams are adding a bigger name. Adams is a year older than Kupp, but he has been much healthier than the 2021 All-Pro. The former Packers, Raiders and Jets star has missed only four games over the past four seasons. One of those (in 2021) came due to rest, and the three others were during a period in which Adams wanted to leave Las Vegas. Although Aaron Rodgers will not be coming with him, Adams will link up with one of the NFL’s most reliable offenses and attempt to make a difference.
Adams will go from leading a receiving corps housing Garrett Wilson to one including Nacua, as the veteran — after some squandered years from a contention standpoint — will return to a Super Bowl threat. Adams still posted a third straight first-team All-Pro season during his Derek Carr reunion season, but the Raiders had begun to decline. Adams showed visible frustration with the Raiders’ ensuing Jimmy Garoppolo plan the next season, calling for a benching of the 2023 FA signing. With Adams tied to Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell last year, the fit predictably ended quickly.
Even with the Jets going 5-12 during Rodgers’ comeback season, Adams played well. His 2023 season with Garoppolo and O’Connell also produced a 1,000-yard year. Adams will head to Los Angeles on the heels of six 1,000-yard seasons in his past seven. We ranked Adams as our No. 15 overall free agent, as only Chris Godwin came in ahead of the off-and-on Rodgers target. The $26MM guaranteed effectively justifies that placement, as the Rams will pay Adams while Nacua is still on a rookie deal. Nacua does not become extension-eligible until 2026.
Rodgers has not committed to even playing in 2025, but that is the expectation. It would appear his days of playing with Adams are over. Adams helped Rodgers to two MVPs, playing a tertiary role in his 2014 honor (Adams’ rookie year). Rodgers was briefly linked to the Rams, as they were sorting out their Stafford situation. Now, Rodgers is being connected to the Giants, who aggressively pursued Stafford during his trade talks. As the Giants and Raiders fell short, Stafford will play a fifth Rams season and have one of this era’s best pass catchers to target alongside Nacua.
NFC Notes: Carr, Horn, Kupp, Cowboys, Okereke
Derek Carr‘s contract will be restructured for the second straight offseason, ensuring he remains with the Saints for at least one more year. The veteran quarterback’s future had been in question until the news of his pact being reworked.
General Mickey Loomis said keeping Carr in place was the team’s plan, so it comes as no surprise he will play a third season in New Orleans. The four-time Pro Bowler apparently would have welcomed a change of scenery, though. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports Carr was believed to be willing to head elsewhere this offseason by joining a QB-needy team. The Saints, however, never showed a desire to move forward with a trade or release.
Carr made it clear before a final decision on his future was made that he would not welcome a pay cut. His $40MM in 2025 compensation will (to a large extent) now be paid out as a signing bonus, but it was already guaranteed under the pact’s previous setup. Trading or cutting their QB1 would therefore have not been feasible for the Saints, but it is still noteworthy Carr would have been on board with a fresh start after two years with the team.
Here are some other notes from around the NFC:
- Extension talks are ongoing between the Panthers and Jaycee Horn. When healthy, the former No. 8 pick has proven to be an effective cornerback but injuries in 2021 and ’23 threaten to hurt his leverage. In spite of his missed time, Joe Person of The Athletic writes Horn is believed to be seeking a deal near the top of the position’s market (subscription required). Five corners are attached to an AAV of $20.1MM or more, and Jalen Ramsey leads the way at $24.1MM per year. That figure could very well be overtaken once Sauce Gardner (Jets) and Derek Stingley (Texans) have extensions in place, but Horn, 25, may not slot in very far behind them.
- Cooper Kupp is known to be on the trade market, with the Rams making clear their intention of moving on from the eight-year veteran. The team is prepared to retain salary to swing a deal, and general manager Les Snead hopes to have one in place by next week (when the 31-year-old’s roster bonus is due). In his first interview since learning of the team’s choice to move on, Kupp said (via Sam Farmer of the L.A. Times) head coach Sean McVay informed him of the move during a face-to-face meting in his office. McVay has left the door (slightly) open to a return with his recent comments, but Kupp has moved forward knowing he will be playing elsewhere in 2025.
- Brandin Cooks is one of many veteran receivers set to hit the market next week. The 31-year-old has spent the past two seasons with the Cowboys, and in an interview with The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson he said he is open to re-signing. Cooks – who missed seven games in 2024 – added he is fully healthy, and Anderson writes there could be interest from multiple teams. While a return to Dallas is firmly in play, Cooks said he feels he has not been utilized correctly during his time there so far. The 11-year veteran played out a two-year, $20MM deal with the Cowboys.
- Bobby Okereke‘s second season with the Giants was limited to 12 games due to a herniated disc in his back. The veteran linebacker is expected to be healthy in time for OTAs, but he could find himself on a new team by then. Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News writes there have been rumblings this offseason about the Giants not viewing Okereke’s value in the same light as they did previously. A 2023 free agent signing for general manager Joe Schoen, the former Colt delivered 149 tackles and a pair of interceptions in his debut New York season. His production dropped this past campaign, though, and with two years left on his pact a trade or release could be under consideration. Moving on immediately would not yield notable savings, but a post-June 1 release would free up $9MM later in the offseason. Okereke, 28, is due a $3MM roster bonus March 17.
- With regard to other Cowboys updates, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News notes veteran defensive ends Carl Lawson and Chauncey Golston could be on the way out. DeMarcus Lawrence hopes to re-sign, but he is also open to exploring his market. The Cowboys currently have Sam Williams and Marshawn Kneeland on their rookie deals and a pending mega-extension to work out with leading edge rusher Micah Parsons. Inexpensive depth will increasingly be a priority if any or all of Lawrence, Lawson and Golston sign elsewhere. Watkins adds that punter Bryan Anger and long snapper Trent Sieg are among the players Dallas aims to re-sign, something which has already been taken care of in the case of Osa Odighizuwa.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/7/25
Friday’s minor NFL moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Re-sign: S Joey Blount, LS Aaron Brewer
Cincinnati Bengals
- Extended: TE Tanner Hudson
Detroit Lions
- Extended: LB Zeke Turner
San Francisco 49ers
- Claimed off waivers (from Rams): CB Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed ERFA tender: S Kaevon Merriweather
Tennessee Titans
- Signed ERFA tender: DT Keondre Coburn, LB Otis Reese
Rams Nearing Decision On Cooper Kupp
Although this offseason may not see the volume of wide receiver contracts 2024 brought, a number of high-profile wideouts are either available in trades or in free agency. None of those options has put together a season like Cooper Kupp‘s top showing, but injuries have prevented the Rams standout from building on that triple-crown slate.
Three years after the Rams gave Kupp a new deal in the wake of his Super Bowl MVP award, he has let it be known the team is ready to move on. Days before the legal tampering period will begin receiver dispersal, Kupp remains a Ram. He is due a $7.5MM roster bonus late next week, and Les Snead has established that point as a loose deadline of sorts.
[RELATED: Rams Re-Sign WR Tutu Atwell]
Snead said Kupp’s bonus date will serve as a deadline for a resolution, via the Orange County Register’s Adam Grosbard. The longtime Rams GM said Kupp could remain a Ram but made clear (via ESPN.com’s Sarah Barshop) that is the “least likely option.” Day 5 of the 2025 league year (which starts March 12) serves as Kupp’s bonus date, and Snead confirmed (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter) the Rams are still looking for a trade partner.
The Rams have let it be known they are willing to take on salary and help another team with the bonus, as they attempt to increase the injury-prone pass catcher’s trade value. The Rams were on the other end of such an effort in 2021, when they sent the Broncos second- and third-round picks for Von Miller. Kupp will not bring a similar return, but the Broncos’ willingness to pay most of Miller’s money increased the trade cost. If the Rams do not eat any money in a deal (which seems highly unlikely), they would take on $22.26MM in dead money. That number would likely increase if they pay down some Kupp salary.
This situation resembles where the 49ers were with Deebo Samuel, whom the Commanders acquired for only a fifth-round pick. Teams waiting the Rams out would put them to a decision. Cutting Kupp would seemingly be in play here. If Kupp is released, he would join a flock of 30-something standouts in free agency. Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs, Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen, DeAndre Hopkins and Tyler Lockett are available. Adams and Lockett, as street free agents, can sign anywhere before free agency starts Monday. For now, Kupp must join the other Pro Bowl-level stalwarts in waiting.
The Rams have not discussed a pay cut with Kupp, Snead confirmed. That would be an interesting option, but absent that, the prospect of the eight-year vet being released would stand to increase. Kupp is going into an age-32 season, which does not separate him from that above-referenced FA contingent. Several teams will be able to fill needs for a No. 2 target, but will one give up an asset to ensure it lands Kupp when turning to free agency would yield a similar player without any draft cost?
At the Combine, Sean McVay did not slam the door on keeping Kupp but called it the “hardest decision” to decide to make him available. Two years still remain on the three-year, $80MM extension. McVay said (via The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue) the Rams will look to free agency, the trade market and the draft for a replacement to complement Puka Nacua.