Analyst Identifies Potential Surprise Salary Cap Casualty for Seahawks

After the Seattle Seahawks take care of business in the Super Bowl, the hard work of keeping a championship team together will begin. While that's never an easy proposition, the Seahawks do have some advantages - starting with almost $75 million in salary cap room to work with in 2026.

However, every single year every team has surprise salary cap casualties no matter how much space they have, and these Seahawks will be no exception to the rule.

A couple weeks ago, outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu and kicker Jason Myers were identified by Over the Cap as potential salary cuts for Seattle. Bleacher Report has a different angle, though. While Myers made their list they also named defensive tackle Jarran Reed and wide receiver Cooper Kupp as potential cap casualties.

B/R on Cooper Kupp as cap cut

"The Seahawks are in a great financial spot... But it needs to be recognized that Cooper Kupp is probably a luxury at this point. His production took a significant hit in his age-32 season. That's a trend that isn't likely to turn around next year. He's set to cost the Seahawks $17.5 million next season and there's a significant chunk of it that could be cleared."

Kupp getting the boot after winning a Super Bowl would come as a surprise. However, a quick look at the numbers indicates that it's a legitimate possibility.

As B/R mentioned, Kupp's cap hit next year is just under $17.5 million. Meanwhile, Kupp only managed to produce 47 catches, less than 600 receiving yards and two touchdowns all year. That's a lot to pay for those kind of numbers and pretty much any NFL team won't hesitate to cut a player in that spot, no matter how much they might like him.

That said, we do not expect the Seahawks to actually cut Kupp. For one thing, the move will save around $9.5 million in cap space, but it will also cost them a hefty $8 million in dead money.

Our best guess is that Seattle will want Kupp to agree to a restructured contract - which is a fancy way of saying taking a pay-cut. According to Over the Cap, doing so would save $5.845 million in cap room and won't cost them any dead money.

Then again, if he wins what would be his second career Super Bowl ring, there's a decent chance that Kupp will decide to retire rather than take less money to keep on playing.

As for Jarran Reed, we just don't see it happening. Reed is still incredibly valuable for this defense and cutting him wound only save $4.4 million in cap room. With so much space already, it just wouldn't make sense to ditch such an important piece of the championship puzzle.

B/R on Cooper Kupp as cap cut

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