Chiefs Named Top Trade Destination for Rams Star WR

The Kansas City Chiefs have been named a top trade destination for Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp.

Nov 6, 2022; Tampa, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) runs for a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Rams will apparently be trading wide receiver Cooper Kupp this offseason, and he will surely pique the interest of many teams around the NFL.

Could the Kansas City Chiefs make a play for him?

Cory Woodroof of USA Today thinks so, naming the Chiefs among a group of five clubs that could potentially swing a trade for Kupp in the coming months.

"This might sound unfair with Kansas City about to contend for yet another Super Bowl, but the future is always now for the Chiefs," Woodroof wrote. "Adding Kupp could be the kind of 'we’re not going anywhere' move Kansas City makes this March to put the rest of the league on continued notice."

Of course, any Kupp trade would be fairly complicated given his contract.

The 31-year-old has two years remaining on his deal and carries cap hits of $29.8 million and $27.3 million in 2025 and 2026. Given his injury history and the fact that he is clearly declining, that could be enough to scare teams like the Chiefs away.

However, Kansas City definitely needs more weapons for Patrick Mahomes, especially with Rashee Rice's future up in the air and Marquise Brown hitting free agency in March.

For that reason, the Chiefs may get aggressive and attempt to trade for Kupp, who played in 12 games and caught 67 passes for 710 yards and six touchdowns in 2024.

And that's just the thing: when Kupp is healthy, he's still very solid. But he has missed considerable time over the last several seasons.

As a matter of fact, the former third-round pick has appeared in a grand total of 33 contests since 2022, which followed his triple crown-winning campaign in 2021.

You have to think that Kupp would be able to flourish with Mahomes if he were able to avoid injury, but the medical concerns are definitely there.

And considering the Chiefs' poor luck with having receivers stay healthy recently, you really have to wonder if they would actually want to take a risk on Kupp.

Perhaps Kansas City should wait to see if the Rams cut Kupp. Trading for him and taking on that money may not be worthwhile in the end, especially when you take into account that the Chiefs have limited financial flexibility to begin with.