Sometimes change is good. Sometimes change is just, well, change. I can't figure out which one accurately describes the Seattle Seahawks, who just signed wide receiver Cooper Kupp to a 3-year, $45 million contract.
After parting ways with Geno Smith and DK Metcalf, the Seahawks were quickly veering into "rebuild" territory, but then general manager John Schneider gave a bag to Sam Darnold ($110 million over 3 years) and got him a legitimate weapon in Kupp to pair with emerging receiver talent Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Returning home: #Rams WR Cooper Kupp is expected to sign with the #Seahawks, per The Insiders. He’s likely to make $15M per year or more.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2025
Sam Darnold gets a new weapon, while the Yakima, WA native & Eastern Washington product lands 2 hours from where he played HS football. pic.twitter.com/Tcj33tidbl
Seattle has a new-look offense
Is this an upgrade for Seattle? I could be convinced.
At his peak, Cooper Kupp was better than D.K. Metcalf has ever been. And although Kupp's peak was four years and many, many injuries ago, he remains a still a reliable, sometimes gamebreaking target — and it's about as good as Seattle can do in replacing Metcalf on short notice.
Kupp returns home — Yakima stand up — and he'll probably have a bigger role in Seattle than he did the past two years in Los Angeles, where he saw fewer targets thanks to Puka Nacua's emergence as a top target for Matthew Stafford. A bounceback year seems obvious for the Eastern Washington University legend.
The ceiling for this unit also depends on which Sam Darnold we're getting — the version we saw for about 90 percent of last season, or the one who struggled in Minnesota's most important games of the season.
There seems to be more question marks with Kupp and Darnold than there were with Smith and Metcalf. If Seattle gets "first half of 2024" Darnold and something even close to 2021 Kupp, then yes, this is an upgrade from Geno Smith and D.K. Metcalf. And, based on solely a gut feeling, I think we'll see those players in 2025. Seattle has recouped from an offensive exodus nicely.