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Well, he did it. Cooper Kupp came back for the Los Angeles Rams in an important Week 8 matchup on Thursday Night Football and he helped L.A. get a big win.
Kupp has been out since Week 2 when he sprained his ankle. He came back and caught five catches for 51 yards and this touchdown. It was a thing of beauty h to see him back on the field with the Rams. Fellow wideout Puka Nacua returned from his injury as well and added seven catches for 106 yards.
It was an important 30-20 win for the Rams over a Minnesota Vikings team that was looking like a Super Bowl contender just a few weeks ago. Now at 3-4 rather than 2-5, the Rams can at least try to look forward to the rest of the season. The truth of the matter is that quarterback Matthew Stafford just plays so much better with a healthy Kupp and Nacua. The truth of the matter is that the Rams can still be extremely explosive and dangerous offensively.
Still, before this game, there were rumblings that Rams general manager Les Snead was looking at Kupp as a big-time trade piece for the Rams, and there's still reason to believe that the talented wideout could end up hitting the trade market.
In fact, this game did everything the Rams needed to help skyrocket his trade value.
Nobody would have wanted to trade for Kupp at the November 5th trade deadline if he wasn't healthy. Actually, let's rephrase that. Nobody would have wanted to trade the Rams anything of significant value for Kupp had he shown any signs of lingering illness.
There are several teams out there that could use a true gamer like Kupp to boost their offense for a playoff run, but none of those teams will make legitimate trade partners for the Rams if L.A. doesn't feel like it can get anything sizable in return back. And let's be frank, any return for Kupp would have to be extremely enticing for Sneed and the L.A. brass, because head coach Sean McVay has made it clear that he doesn't want to see his star wideout go anywhere.
McVay said he was happy to see Kupp back on the field after the win over the Vikings.
“And that's what I expect to stay that way,” McVay continued, according to ESPN.
Sean McVay will need to be convinced to trade Cooper Kupp
While on the surface that may seem like he's simply saying that he expects Kupp to remain healthy enough to see the field moving forward, this doesn't sound like a coach who wants to part with his players. Of course, no coach wants to essentially give up on the season midway, but it's not like the Rams are a legitimate Super Bowl contender at this point. McVay may think so because he's Sean McVay, but it remains to be seen if Sneed wants to push his chips in the table rather than start a rebuild off in earnest by trading Kupp.
As it stands, Sneed will have a ton of convincing to do when it comes to his head coach.
“Teams reached out. Some of the things that I've seen out there, they're just not true,” McVay said of the trade speculation surrounding Kupp at the trade deadline.
The Rams have one more game before the trade deadline, against the Seattle Seahawks, and if Kupp goes out and has another good game, expect the fervor for him on the trade market to be at an all-time high. There's a good chance he'll get out there and put up another good performance as well. He and Stafford are notoriously close and that shows up on the field. Their early morning film study translated to 145 catches for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns for Kupp in 2021. He's certainly not that same player anymore, but he's a tremendous route runner, has great hands, and he's one of those players who simply has a nose for the end zone.
Even last season in just 12 games, he caught 59 passes for 737 yards and five touchdowns. In Week 1 against the Detroit Lions, he caught 14 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.
Kupp is a game-changing wideout. He's the type of wideout that can elevate a playoff offense and turn it into a Super Bowl-winning offense. The biggest question for teams wanting to trade for him is his health. Long-term that's still a concern, but he at least proved against the Vikings that he's he's ready to roll in the here and now.
Again, the biggest challenge interested teams will face now is coming up with a good enough package for Sneed and the Rams, because eventually, he's going to have to sell that thing to his head coach.
