Rams and WR Cooper Kupp Agree on Massive 3-Year, $80 Million Extension
While coach Sean McVay says the Los Angeles Rams may not be focused on 'defending' their Super Bowl, their spring and summer moves indicate a different plan.
On Wednesday, reports surfaced that the team and star receiver Cooper Kupp have 'made significant progress' on Kupp's impending extension negotiations.
Now, that extension has reportedly become official, with Kupp and the Rams agreeing on a 3-year, $80 million extension, with $75 million guaranteed.
The extension officially makes Kupp the highest-paid wideout in the NFL, in a deal that will pay him $110 million total at an average of $22 million per year over the next five seasons.
And in a recent interview on the Rich Eisen show, Rams general manager Les Snead had already indicated Kupp was the team's main priority, following the newly minted deals with Matthew Stafford and Aaron Donald.
“Cooper Kupp, he is next on the list. You nailed that, for sure,” Snead said on a recent appearance on the Rich Eisen show. “Our intention is to come to a win-win. We’d love to do it before camp. We’d love to do it sooner than possible. But in these types of situations when there’s an element of a player under contract, we feel like he deserves a raise, we want to get him an extension."
As it turns out, Snead was right on the money, as the two parties came to an agreement just hours later.
Kupp had previously indicated his desire to stay in Los Angeles on a long-term basis. Now, that desire has become a reality.
"I also love this organization," Kupp told the Athletic. "I want to be here for a very long time, and to be doing things with these guys — not just the guys on the field, I want to be a part of this organization [in its] growth and the places I think this organization is going."
Kupp finished with the NFL's triple crown record, becoming the first player since 2005 to lead the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
On the way to leading Los Angeles to a Super Bowl victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, Kupp tallied 1,947 receiving yards, and 16 receiving touchdowns. His marks for catches and yards are each the second-most in NFL history.
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