Cooper Kupp Comes Home: Seahawks Ink Former All-Pro to Three-Year Deal

After nearly 48 hours of speculation linking the former NFL Offensive Player of the Year to the Seattle Seahawks following his release from the Los Angeles Rams, Cooper Kupp will finally be coming home to the Pacific Northwest.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Kupp and the Seahawks have agreed to a three-year contract worth $45 million, bringing the Yakima, Washington native and Eastern Washington standout back to his home state while keeping him in the NFC West to face his former team twice a season. Details on guaranteed money have yet to be disclosed.

A long-time nemesis for the Seahawks starring in coach Sean McVay’s offense, Kupp tortured the NFC West for eight seasons, quickly becoming a star after being selected in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Though a torn ACL cost him part of his second season, he bounced back with his first 1,000-yard campaign in 2019. Two seasons later, he put up historic numbers as the Rams advanced to win the Super Bowl, notching a rare triple crown with 145 receptions, 1,947 yards, and 16 touchdowns for the eventual champs.

Since winning Offensive Player of the Year honors and earning First-Team All-Pro accolades in 2021, however, Kupp has been saddled by injuries, including a high ankle sprain that required surgery in 2022, missing a total of 18 regular season games over the past three seasons. Not playing more than 12 games in any of those seasons, his overall productivity has been hindered significantly, failing to hit the 1,000-yard mark or eclipse 80 catches or six touchdowns once. Over the past two seasons, his catch rate has plummeted from 73 percent in his first six years to 64.3 percent in 2023 and 2024.

While durability has been an issue, Kupp has remained a reliable, effective target when healthy. Though he missed eight games after injuring his ankle in 2022, he still surpassed 800 receiving yards and scored six touchdowns in the nine games he suited up in, which would have put him at close to 1,700 yards and 15 touchdowns over a full season. Last season, he finished with 67 catches for 710 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games, which would have equated to a 94 catch, 1,005-yard season extrapolated over 17 games.

Per Pro Football Focus charting, 103 of Kupp’s 191 receptions since the start of the 2022 season have converted first downs for north of a 53 percent rate. Though he wasn’t as effective creating yardage with the ball in his hands last season, he ranked in the top 20 among qualified receivers with 5.6 yards after the catch per reception in both 2022 and 2023, which interestingly coincided with current Seattle pass game coordinator Jake Peetz working with receivers on McVay’s staff for those two seasons.

Changing teams in the NFC West, Kupp will join a Seahawks squad that has overgone a dramatic overhaul at the receiver position in recent weeks and as long as he can avoid the injury bug that has nipped him in recent seasons, he should be in line for extensive targets from new quarterback Sam Darnold. The team first cut veteran Tyler Lockett as a cap casualty to open up $17 million in cap relief and quickly followed up by fulfilling DK Metcalf’s trade request to send him to the Steelers for a second-round draft choice, leaving major holes in the passing game behind rising star Jaxon Smith-Njigba and third-year target Jake Bobo.

Now 31 years old, Kupp has struggled to create separation the past three years, in part due to his injuries, which had created some skepticism about the type of impact he will have moving forward. According to ESPN player charting, after ranking 15th out of 160 receivers in “ability to get open” in 2021, he has finished 71st, 102nd, and 141st in the past three seasons, a clear sign of decline.

At the same time, Kupp’s game has never been predicated on using his athleticism to get open, as he’s a savvy route runner with an elite football IQ who understands how to attack opposing defenses and find holes in coverage. While some may view his skill set as redundant compared to Smith-Njigba with both being most productive from the slot, the two still should be able to function together in offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s timing-based offense, which features similar route concepts to the one Kupp played in with McVay, including a heavy usage of in-breaking dig routes and crossers.

With the goal to remain in contention next season and beyond, the Seahawks wouldn’t be making this move to sign Kupp if they didn’t believe he still had plenty left in the tank to contribute for an organization that isn’t in the midst of a rebuild. Now, he will have to prove he can meet those expectations back with his home state team, and if he’s able to rebound and stay on the field, the team now has a chance to weather the storm and field a competent passing attack playing without Metcalf or Lockett for the first time in six seasons.