The Seattle Seahawks are bolstering the playmaking corps around new quarterback Sam Darnold.
Cooper Kupp lands in the PNW on a three-year contract worth $45 million, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Comp update: Cooper Kupp and the Seahawks reached agreement on a three-year, $45 million deal, per source. https://t.co/KraJBbHHJ3
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2025
Seahawks snatch up former Rams wideout Cooper Kupp to help Sam Darnold
Kupp, a former Eastern Washington star who played high school football just hours from Seattle, joins his hometown team and a remade WR room. The Seahawks continue to embrace change on offense. After trading Geno Smith and DK Metcalf (plus cutting Tyler Lockett), Seattle now pairs Kupp with Jaxon Smith-Njigba to form a new explosive pass-catching duo. They will flank Darnold, who made his first Pro Bowl last season with Minnesota, throwing for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns.
The Los Angeles Rams made a tough financial decision to cut the 31-year-old Kupp, who appeared in only 12 games last season due to injury. The former Super Bowl MVP has been on a noticeable decline in recent years, but the Rams are probably sweating this particular landing spot.
There is a not-so-distant alternate timeline in which Darnold and Kupp are starting for LA next season, but the Rams went down a different path in this world. They kept Matthew Stafford and sacrificed elsewhere. Now, a division rival benefits.
Kupp will get two chances to remind the Rams of his talent first-hand in 2025.
This is a tremendous schematic fit for new OC Klint Kubiak, who will look to embrace the immense arm talent of his quarterback. Going from Smith to Darnold isn't exactly an upgrade, but it does underscore the shifting dynamics of this Seahawks offense.
Kupp does not offer the big-play ability or brute physicality of someone like DK Metcalf, but he's a more versatile weapon. Seattle will line Kupp up all over the formation, allowing his robust route tree to fully blossom.
Few wideouts are better engineered to take pressure off their quarterback. A highly intuitive player, Kupp knows when and where he needs to be on every play. He can perfectly execute within a scheme and make himself available on quick-hitters when a play breaks down. Darnold will love having Kupp's safety blanket around him at all times.
It's a new dawn in Seattle. This offense has done a complete 180 in the span of an offseason, embracing many of the same skills and principles that have defined their top rivals — San Francisco and Los Angeles — for the better part of a decade. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Seattle's stylistic shift is complete. Few teams are more familiar with how Kupp can impact a game.
There is risk inherent to this contract, of course. Kupp has been on a downslide ever since his peak in 2021. He hasn't appeared in more than 12 games in a season since 2021, not so coincidentally. Seattle is hoping that Kupp has more gas left in the tank, but it's fair to wonder if this deal might sour quicker than others. Metcalf was a headache at times, sure, but he's four years Kupp's junior. This probably is not an upgrade, but rather a fresh coat of paint. The Seahawks look a lot different, but it's unclear if they've actually improved.