Wide receiver Cooper Kupp has announced that the Los Angeles Rams will seek a trade this offseason. So which NFL teams would get the biggest boost from acquiring the Super Bowl LVI hero? We rank the top landing spots based on the largest team-rating increase.
It doesn’t seem all that long ago when Cooper Kupp was the best receiver in the NFL.
The 2017 third-round pick out of Eastern Washington finished with the receiving Triple Crown in 2021, piling up franchise records with 145 catches and 1,947 yards while playing in all 17 regular-season games for the Los Angeles Rams. He was named the AP Offensive Player of the Year and selected to the prestigious All-Pro Team.
Kupp totaled another 33 receptions for 478 yards and six TDs in four playoff games, including an eight-catch, two-score effort in a 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals that earned him Super Bowl MVP honors.
Kupp, who will be 32 years old in June, had 67 receptions for 710 yards and six TDs in 12 games in 2024. The star wideout hasn’t played in more than 12 games in any of the past three seasons while dealing with injuries.
And the underlying data shows he’s clearly been in decline in recent years. Kupp’s burn percentage, open rate and big-play percentage (a weighted formula that shows how often a receiver generates burns of at least 20 yards or burn touchdowns) have tumbled since his historic 2021 performance.
Now he’s entering the final two years of a deal that will cost the team a cap hit of more than $29 million in 2025 and $27 million in 2026 (per Spotrac).
As a result, along with the emergence of 2023 fifth-round pick Puka Nacua (184 catches, 2,476 yards in two seasons), Kupp announced in remarkably transparent fashion (reportedly so much so that management was not happy) on social media that the Rams had informed him they would be moving him before the 2025 season.
So how good of a playmaker is Kupp at this point of his career? And how much could he actually help a team that acquires him?
We can use our method of evaluating wideouts through tracking matchups between a receiver and defensive back – much like we did with edge rushers and offensive linemen when assessing which teams would benefit most from trading for Myles Garrett.
Our ELO model assigns a rating to each player, accounting for both ELO against zone and man defense. At the beginning of a data set, every player has the same rating. Based on these ratings, each matchup has an expected result. If two players have the same rating, each is expected to win 50% of the time. If there’s a 100-point difference in the ratings, the higher player is expected to win about 64% of the time.
Our team ratings identify seven aspects of each team: QB, pass block, run block, pass rush, run defense, skill players and pass coverage. Other than QB, each of these is built from individual player ratings, weighted by position, and aggregated to a unit rating.
Unlike Garrett, who simply makes every team better because he is the best at his position, Kupp is a much more nuanced addition. He’s still a good football player but some teams have better pass catchers.
Teams like the Bengals, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Chargers and Pittsburgh Steelers already have standouts – Ja’Marr Chase, DJ Moore, Ladd McConkey and George Pickens – who are still getting full playing time and target shares. In those situations, Kupp would simply be filling in behind them and replacing players who aren’t as good as he is.
It gets murkier when looking at teams that either don’t have a No. 1 receiver who gets a lots of targets or have muddled receiver rooms with many above-average to average players. The reality is that Kupp isn’t likely to be in a lead role (we noted why earlier) in which he’s commanding 30% or more of the team’s targets in 2025 and beyond.
The Washington Commanders, for example, currently do not have a true target-sucking option, so putting Kupp on the roster would give him an assumed target rate north of 33%. That would potentially reduce some of the targets from WRs with higher ELO ratings.
Of course, any team can acquire Kupp and use him in a completely different way than he’s been previously used, but all we can do is take Kupp, statistically, and move him around to see which teams would get the biggest boost from acquiring him.
Here are the top potential landing spots based on the largest team-rating increase with Kupp on the roster. One thing to note: We’re looking at rosters without any presumed signings, so Khalil Mack is a free agent and not a member of the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Top Landing Spots for Kupp
1. Pittsburgh Steelers (+1.3 Points)
The +1.3 points mean that if the Steelers were previously a 1.3-point underdog, adding Kupp would make the game even. And it makes a lot of sense considering the team’s lack of depth at the wideout position behind Pickens.
Considering some of the issues Pickens had, including a two-unsportsmanlike penalty performance against the Bengals in December when head coach Mike Tomlin said, “he’s got to grow up,” Pittsburgh may opt to team Pickens with a more veteran receiver.
2. Cincinnati Bengals (+1.2)
How does Joe Burrow throwing to Chase and Kupp sound? The Bengals have not signed Tee Higgins to a long-term extension after he played on the franchise tag in 2024, and he’s set to become a free agent in March.
Kupp would be a nice addition if the Bengals, who also have Chase and Trey Hendrickson looking for big extensions, ultimately part ways with Higgins. Cincinnati would be about 1.2 points better with Kupp and without Higgins compared to not having either of them next season.
3. Chicago Bears (+1.1)
If the Bears simply move on from Keenan Allen, who had a rather disappointing season in Chicago, Kupp might be a good option to replace him as a veteran target for Caleb Williams behind Moore.
Their 2024 first-round pick Rome Odunze is waiting in the wings after a 54-catch, 734-yard debut campaign, but he might not be ready to be elevated to the No. 2 spot.
4. Los Angeles Chargers (+1.1)
It’s always going to be a good idea to add weapons when you have Justin Herbert at quarterback. Ladd McConkey has shown signs of brilliance, but a steady veteran addition like Kupp would boost the Chargers by about 1.1 points.
It would also make Kupp’s move to a new team rather easy.
5. Tennessee Titans (+0.7)
Let’s face it. The Titans are still trying to recover from trading A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2022 NFL Draft. Calvin Ridley is the team’s returning top receiver after finishing with 64 receptions for 1,017 yards and four touchdowns.
Having Ridley as the only proven wideout under contract isn’t good. But adding Kupp to team with Ridley makes the situation much more palatable.
6. Dallas Cowboys (+0.4)
The No. 2 situation behind CeeDee Lamb hasn’t been all that great since Amari Cooper was traded after the 2021 season. Now Brandin Cooks is an unrestricted free agent and KaVonte Turpin is a restricted free agent heading into the offseason.
If Kupp can stay healthy, a Lamb-Kupp tandem could be fun to watch and make life a whole lot easier for Dak Prescott. According to our model, it would also give Dallas a little boost.
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