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Louis Riddick on Cooper Kupp Becoming Expendable: Happens to Every Single Player

A lot can change in a short period of time.

Kyle Koster

Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) reacts after the NFC wild card game against the Minnesota Vikings at State Farm Stadium.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) reacts after the NFC wild card game against the Minnesota Vikings at State Farm Stadium. / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images
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Cooper Kupp broke his own news on Monday by taking to social media to inform the world that the Los Angeles Rams intend to trade him. It serves as yet another reminder of how quickly things can change in the NFL because it wasn't that long ago that the wide receiver was putting the team on his back to win a Super Bowl.

While discussing the topic on Get Up Tuesday morning, Louis Riddick spoke about the realities of the league and how what's happening to Kupp tends to happen to almost every player regardless of skill and service.

"You know what's so funny," Riddick said. "This reminds me of a saying that I was told when I was a player and a saying I remember someone reiterating to me when I got in the front office. Front office people's jobs is to replace you. If they can't replace you then they've done their jobs."

"That's what happens to every single player," Riddick continued. "Puka Nacua's emergence has made Cooper Kupp, one of the guys who you look at and you go 'he was the hero of their Super Bowl run, now all of the sudden he's expendable?' Think of how shocking that sounds to you."

The old adage that NFL stands for "not for long" gets pedantic and yet it rings true time after time.

Kupp can take solace in the fact that there will be a market for his services. In his three injury-shortened seasons since the Super Bowl run he's proved to be productive and dynamic with surefire hands. He'll turn 32 this summer and appears to have plenty left in the tank for a team looking to add another receiving option.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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