PALM BEACH, Fla. – At the end of the 2024 season, Cooper Kupp said he did not have any clarity on his future, but seemed aware of the uncertainty given the speculation surrounding it.
Less than two weeks later, the wide receiver had it: The team would seek to trade him.
This news was delivered after sitting down with head coach Sean McVay, who said he also informed Kupp that if the team couldn't find a trade partner, they would release him. The latter scenario unfolded on the first day of the new league year.
"It was a challenging conversation, but he couldn't have been more classy, even just to watch the way he handled the Seattle press conference, the authenticity, the vulnerability. But that was a hard conversation for me, for him," McVay said Tuesday at the NFL Annual Meeting in his first time speaking about Kupp's release since the transaction took place. "But it was something that, at the end of the day, it was a football decision, and it doesn't change the legacy, all the great things that (he's accomplished), more importantly, the great person that he is. But we do have a responsibility to the collective, and it was what we felt like was the best decision for our football team moving forward. And (it was) not easy, but that's what our responsibility is."
According to general manager Les Snead, the decision was made due to the current phase of Kupp's career not aligning with the team's. Head coach Sean McVay cited wanting to go in a different direction in the receiver room.
They arrived at the conclusion that led to that difficult conversation between McVay and Kupp after spending two days conducting an after-action review of the season alongside Rams president Kevin Demoff and vice president of football and business administration Tony Pastoors.
"When you're just looking at, what are the plans for your receiver room? It was going to be a challenging fit moving forward," McVay said. "And with respect to him, I think he is going to get a better opportunity to shine, whether that was outside or obviously with Seattle. I'm glad it worked out for him."
Kupp later signed with the Seahawks, which means he's slated to face the Rams twice this year as a division opponent. In his post to social media announcing the team's intention to trade him, he said that decision was one he didn't agree with and that he always thought he was going to begin and end his career with the Rams. He also admitted in his introductory press conference in Seattle his departure from Los Angeles was a difficult one, and indicated there was no opportunity to counter and try to make the situation work.
While Kupp described his departure from the Rams as "very difficult" and "very frustrating" when he spoke with Seattle reporters, he still expressed gratitude for his time in Los Angeles.
"I'm sure they have their reasons for why they want to do things, whatever it is," Kupp said. "Not a ton of clarity in that regard. But at the end of the day, I'm thankful to be able to walk away from that organization and be able to look back on all those memories, all those experiences, all those things we were able to go through together and the relationships that we had with so many people there, and look at it in a positive light and be very thankful for my time in Los Angeles. It's something that we'll always cherish. But like I said, we are very excited about the chapter ahead and what we can do in Seattle."
McVay on Tuesday responded to that and said he felt the Rams did provide that clarity. However, because of other moving parts like the possibility of Davante Adams being available and the possibility of re-signing Tutu Atwell, they didn't have all the applicable context of what went into the decision and the plans for the wide receiver room.
"And here's the thing, I think you want to be careful in regards to, all right, let's not take unnecessary... there's an element of, there was clarity, there was an understanding of, 'this is the direction that we're going to go,'" McVay said. "Now to be able to provide all the context, we didn't have all the context that was applicable in regards to, all right, hey, telling the plans in regards to what did we really envision that receiver room. There was a possibility we thought Davante Adams would be a possibility, but you don't know, you know he's going to have other interests. There was a possibility we were going to re-sign Tutu Atwell, but we didn't know at the time. And so I think the most important thing was, when we had made the decision that we were going to seek a trade, or at least grant him his release, that was very quickly after the season, which I thought he deserved that clarity in regards to the direction we're going. Now exactly why all those things occurred, there had to be a little bit of time to be able to provide the appropriate context, and that wasn't applicable in the moment."
Snead and McVay both reiterated their appreciation for Kupp's contributions to the franchise.
"We don't win a Super Bowl without Cooper," Snead said.
"I think the hard part is the human element," McVay said. "You're never going to separate that. As soon as you stop feeling that way, then I don't want to do this anymore. So, it was very challenging, but I do think there was a good healthy dialogue and really Cooper and I were able to have a lot of good conversations as well. I think the one thing that I do know, he knows, is how much I appreciate him, how much I love him and how grateful I am for the time that we had, even if he's probably not my biggest fan right now."
