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The Los Angeles Rams are preparing for the 2025 NFL season without longtime wide receiver Cooper Kupp, who was released in March after eight seasons with the franchise. As the team reshapes its offense, third-year receiver Puka Nacua admitted the transition has felt strange in the wake of Kupp’s departure.
Speaking to ESPN’s Sarah Barshop, Nacua said Kupp’s absence has been particularly noticeable during position meetings this spring.
“It’s weird,” Nacua said. “They’re asking me questions, and I’m like, ‘Wait, Coach Yarbs [wide receivers coach Eric Yarber], do you want me to answer this for real?’”
Nacua, who set rookie records for receptions and receiving yards in 2023, now finds himself stepping into a leadership role. Despite his rapid rise, the 24-year-old noted he’s still learning on the job.
“I’m like, ‘I feel like I still have some of these similar questions,’” Nacua added. “But it’s been good because it’s a teaching moment for me.”
Rams turn to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams after Cooper Kupp signs with Seahawks
Kupp, 31, signed a three-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks shortly after his release. He enters his ninth NFL season and first outside of Los Angeles, where he helped lead the Rams to a Super Bowl LVI title and captured the receiving triple crown in 2021.
“It definitely is a little bit different,” Nacua said. “The spot he used to sit in, I think, it’s definitely occupied by somebody now. So everyone’s getting used to it.”
The Rams also reshaped their receiving corps by signing 32-year-old, six-time Pro Bowler Davante Adams. The veteran wideout spent part of last season with the Las Vegas Raiders before being traded to the New York Jets midseason. He signed with Los Angeles in March, citing conversations with head coach Sean McVay and the Rams’ staff as instrumental in his decision.
“He’s come in and been a great leader,” Nacua said.
Los Angeles is looking to build on a 2024 campaign that ended with a 10-7 record and a trip to the NFC Divisional Round, where the team fell to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. With Kupp gone, the Rams are counting on a new-look receiving unit led by Nacua and Adams to keep the offense on track.
Kupp’s exit closes a major chapter in the Rams’ offensive history, but the team’s focus has shifted to its evolving identity — one that now leans on Nacua’s continued emergence and the experience Adams brings to the locker room.
