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Sam Darnold pays great compliment to Seahawks vet Cooper Kupp

Sam Darnold’s Vikings and Cooper Kupp’s Rams squared off in the 2024 wild card round. Now the veteran performers join forces with the new-look Seattle Seahawks.
Russell Baxter|
Jan 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) catches a pass in the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Jan 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) catches a pass in the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles in a 2025 NFC divisional round game at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

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Seattle Seahawks

This past season was a breakthrough year for a player that was the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Quarterback Sam Darnold began his career with the New York Jets, and was eventually traded to the Carolina Panthers. After spending the 2023 season with the San Francisco 49ers, he enjoyed a career-year with the playoff-bound Minnesota Vikings in 2024.

Including the postseason, Kevin O’Connell’s club owned a 14-4 overall record. There were two losses to the NFC North champion Detroit Lions, and a pair of setbacks to the NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams—the second a humbling 27-9 defeat in the wild card round.

Now Darnold is Mike Macdonald’s new starting quarterback with the Seattle Seahawks. As fate would have it, one of his new teammates caught one pass for 29 yards for Sean McVay’s team in that playoff meeting.

Cooper Kupp
Jan 13, 2025; Glendale, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) against the Minnesota Vikings during an NFC wild card game at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

In a recent interview with James Brizuela of Newsweek, Darnold was asked how excited he was to play with wide receiver Cooper Kupp. “So excited. I mean, I’ve seen Cooper from afar. We’ve gotten to chat a little bit, you know, before games and such. But just to, just to be able to, you know, hang out with him for a little bit and get to know, you know, his beautiful mind man, he’s like a quarterback out there playing receiver.

“And you know, he’s, he’s trying his best right now to understand the system and get the formations, get the concepts, and kind of see how he can, you know, just affect the game and all ways possible. And it’s special to play with a player like that that just wants to get better every single day because that, at the end of the day, that’s contagious.”

Seahawks’ general manager John Schneider remade the team’s offense this offseason. Among the numerous moves were trades that sent quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver DK Metcalf to the Raiders and Steelers, respectively. Enter Darnold and Kupp, who hope to make an immediate impact for a team seeking its first playoff appearance since 2022.

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Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.