Bear Digest

The Bears' slot receiver quandary and whether Cooper Kupp solves it

Analysis: Cooper Kupp is available and definitely a player the Bears could find a way to bring him to the roster but how and why they'd do it need to be explored.

Gene Chamberlain

Cooper Kupp catches a pass in front of former Bears slot cornerback Buster Skrine.
Cooper Kupp catches a pass in front of former Bears slot cornerback Buster Skrine. / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images
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The Bears need a slot receiver with Keenan Allen's free agency fate up in the air.

They have Tyler Scott on the roster but he played about 22% of his snaps from the slot in 2023 and was barely involved on offense last season. Rome Odunze played only about 35% of his plays from the slot last year per Pro Football Focus and is more of an outside receiver body type.

Then, out of the clear blue on the first day of Super Bowl week, there is a revelation from slot receiver Cooper Kupp that the Rams intend to try to trade him.

Put two and two together and it comes out with Kupp as a potential Keenan Allen replacement.

That is, if you want to repeat last season and throw a wad of cash down the drain, along with a draft pick, and risk bringing in a player who misses games. This would be one who doesn't really fit the role a slot receiver plays in a Ben Johnson offense.

The Bears can get Kupp, though, if it's important.

The easy way is to simply wait until just before free agency when the Rams cut him for cap purposes and then they can sign him to a workable contract if they see this as an important acquisition.

GM Ryan Poles should have learned from what he did with Keenan Allen last season.

Throwing away a fourth-round pick for one season produced some meaningless touchdowns by Allen and nothing more than someone who Caleb Williams could target while running for his life. But if he hadn't been there, someone else would have been.

There are a lot of receivers who can make 70 receptions if targeted enough and many who would average more than 10 yards a catch.

Kupp has salary cap hits of $29.78 million for 2025 and $27.33 million for 2026 but only about half of it is in bonus money. Of course the Rams will cut him because no one would want to inherit his contract in a trade.

Because about half of the remaining contract is in salary, the Rams can save substantial cap space with a trade but they're still going to be eating big chunks of dead cap space, including $14.78 million next year according to Overthecap.com

It's completely doable for the Rams under their cap, though.

In this way, Kupp is the opposite of Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett for the postseason trade market. Garrett would destroy the Browns' cap if he is cut or traded. Kupp would nick the Rams a little if traded or cut but if acquired in a trade the new team would be the one more severely damaged with his bigger cap hits.

Now, a team acquiring Kupp by trade could rework his contract if it's this important to get it done, and could make it more affordable.

They would still need to give up a draft pick like the Bears did last year with Allen. What the Bears got for their efforts was a big gap between their Round 3 and their Round 5 picks in this draft and they got to pay out $23 million, money that could have been used for a better edge rusher or a better offensive lineman to protect Williams.

Here's what they would be getting in Kupp:

  • A receiver who had one season when he caught an incredible 145 passes for 1,947 yards with 16 touchdowns for 191 targets.
  • A receiver who had only one other 1,000-yard season in his career and only went over 900 receiving yards in just three of his eight seasons.
  • Someone who hasn't had more than 75 catches since 2021 and has been injured too much.

It's not quite production commensurate with nearly $28 million in cap cost.

The Rams realize a receiver who turns 32 before the 2025 season is probably not someone who fits their future plans and so he's available.

It should be for someone besides the Bears, unless Kupp gets cut and signs on a one-year deal worth a scant $6 million or $7 million, and there is no other receiver with better speed to solve the issue.

The Bears have a need for someone younger and with better speed in the slot next season. This speed threat is essential to how Ben Johnson used the position with Amon-Ra St. Brown.

A free agent like Stefon Diggs would be a better answer, if they knew he was healthy after a torn ACL. Diggs showed his value as a slot receiver in a crowded receiver corps before his injury last year. Projections by PFF and Spotrac.com for Diggs are a great deal less than the Bears paid for Allen last year.

The draft is always preferable to a trade or free agency, though.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.