As much as wide receiver Cooper Kupp seems confused about why he was shown the door by the Los Angeles Rams this offseason, it appears to outsiders that the Rams simply viewed veteran Davante Adams as an upgrade at the position.
While at an event on Sunday, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford reacted to his club replacing Kupp with Adams.
"I have a ton of respect for him, the way he goes about his business and the way he plays the game," Stafford said about Adams, as shared by Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. "He’s been a big-time [player] in this league for a long time, so happy to have him. I know he’s going to be a big addition to our team."
Adams is a three-time first-team All-Pro selection who tallied 85 receptions for 1,063 yards and eight touchdowns across 14 total games with the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets this past season. That's impressive considering he caught passes thrown by journeyman Gardner Minshew, 2023 fourth-round draft pick Aidan O'Connell and a beaten-up version of Aaron Rodgers.
The Rams signed Adams to a two-year contract that could be worth up to $44M earlier this offseason.
While Stafford will be the best signal-caller Adams has had since Rodgers was playing at a Most Valuable Player level with the Green Bay Packers, Kupp ultimately signed a three-year, $45M deal with the Seattle Seahawks. Kupp played only for the Rams from the start of his NFL career in 2017 through the 2024 season, but injuries limited him to just 33 regular-season games over the past three campaigns.
He is now on track to face the Rams twice next season as a member of the Seahawks.
"A great teammate, a great Ram — I think everybody here knows that and can appreciate what he was for our team and what he was for this community," Stafford said about Kupp. "Happy that he landed somewhere he wanted to be and got the deal he deserved. I’ll still stay in touch with him like I always do, and I’ll pull for him as long as we’re not going against each other."
Stafford and the Rams could go through a breakup as soon as next offseason, so he and Kupp may share a locker room once again down the road unless the signal-caller retires in early 2026. For now, Stafford will hope the Rams were right about Adams being a better option than Kupp for the 2025 campaign.
