He was adored.
He was unstoppable.
He’s getting cut?
For eight seasons the sound of “Coooop” filled the Coliseum and SoFi Stadium, fans embracing the humble greatness of Cooper Kupp as he ascended from anonymity to become the new Rams’ first real homegrown star.
On the Rams’ final drive of Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals, he had four catches, ran for a first down on fourth and one, and hauled in the winning touchdown pass.
In that championship 2021 season he achieved the so-called receiving triple crown while becoming only the second receiver in history to be named offensive player of the year and Super Bowl most valuable player in the same season.
And on Wednesday, Kupp was fired.
The Rams’ beloved star was released simply because the Rams no longer thought he was worth it.
Think about that. Think about what the Rams just did. Think about what the Rams always do.
Just three years after their most popular player leads them to the greatest moment in franchise history, they sigh and shrug and tell him to take a hike.
He’ll soon be 32, and now he’s too old. His fearless style has led to numerous injuries, and now he’s too slow.
You’ve got Puka Nacua and newcomer Davante Adams and speedy Tutu Atwell and now, despite his landmark contributions and locker-room leadership, you just don’t need Cooper Kupp anymore.
So you just whack him.
The Rams make me want to scream.
They also make me want to applaud.
Cutting Kupp was the smart move, the gutsy move, the trademark Rams move.
The Rams understand the Los Angeles market as well as any other team here, and consistently act on that belief without fear or emotion.
They know the local fans demand a winner now, this instant, this season, right now, no rebuilding, no retirement tours, no budget complaints, no excuses.
They know they have to win to survive in this crowded sports landscape, and they’ll do anything to make that happen, every season, every game, every moment.
The Dodgers failed to win a full-season title for 36 years and they still sold out. The Lakers have gone 15 seasons with one asterisk championship and they’re still beloved.
The Rams don’t have that luxury. They’ve really been back in town for only 10 seasons and have had to prove themselves with every snap.
Los Angeles didn’t remember them. Los Angeles didn’t trust them. The Rams couldn’t afford sentiment. They couldn’t just entertain, they had to enchant.
So they spent $5 billion on a stadium and built their culture around the brightest young mind in the NFL and declared it their mission to win quick, and win huge.
And no player is bigger than that mission.
Jared Goff is drafted, embraced, grows up in the organization, eventually leads the Rams to a Super Bowl, and what happens? Two seasons later he is openly criticized by coach Sean McVay and traded to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford.
The Rams thought they could do better than Goff, and they were right.
Todd Gurley is drafted, supported, beloved, twice leads the league in rushing touchdowns, in 2017 is named offensive player of the year, and what happens? Two seasons later, his effectiveness decreasing, he is cut.
The Rams thought Gurley no longer could help them win, and they were right.
All of which brings this latest tale of messiness back to Kupp, who you knew was in trouble last fall when his name was first mentioned in trade talks. He missed four early games because of an ankle injury after missing significant time in the previous two seasons because of injuries. He already had lost his prime receiver spot to Nacua and wasn’t getting any better, and you know what that meant.
Understanding how the Rams operate, you knew he was toast. The minute those autumn trade rumors began, he was toast.
After he returned from the injury he pretty much disappeared — only nine total targets in the last three games involving the starters — and even five catches in the divisional playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles couldn’t save him.
With a salary-cap number of $28.9 million and potentially owed a mid-March roster bonus of $7.5 million, he was deemed too expensive for the Rams to keep, and apparently too expensive for anybody else to acquire in a trade.
So, as quickly and stunningly as he once caught those Goff and Stafford passes — how did he always get so open? — Kupp is gone.
He’s not happy about it, as he recently related to The Times’ Sam Farmer in a compelling, exclusive story.
Two weeks after the season McVay told Kupp the Rams were going to trade him, and Kupp told Farmer he’s been hurting ever since.
“As time has gone on I’ve had to deal with all the frustration, anger, sadness, all these things that as a human you process,” he said. “Having to say goodbye to people and know that that door is closed. That’s been tough to walk through as the weeks have gone by.”
The Rams are sorry but not sorry. Unlike the Dodgers, who can keep an icon like Clayton Kershaw on the roster forever, the Rams are handcuffed by a salary cap.
It seems cold-blooded, but if they wanted to maintain their commitment to winning, they had to end their commitment to Kupp. It feels awful, but if they want Nacua to eventually stay and the star Adams to come, Kupp had to go.
“It’s about the big picture,” McVay told reporters last week.
The picture looks a bit dimmer without the bearded, smiling, swerving Kupp.
But by next fall, with the smartly retained Stafford throwing to Nacua and Adams, the picture is brighter than ever.
In cutting Kupp, the Rams made a heart-wrenching decision.
And absolutely the right one.
The post Plaschke: Rams cutting Cooper Kupp is painful but it is the right move appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
