Should the Commanders trade for Cooper Kupp?

Evaluating all aspects of a potential deal for Rams WR Cooper Kupp

Earlier this week, I broke down a potential trade target for the Commanders in Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. Today, I thought I’d look at another potential trade option for Washington. Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp announced on social media that the Rams have informed him of their intent to trade him this offseason. There were rumors at the trade deadline that the Rams were open to trading Kupp then, and were even willing to take on some of his salary to facilitate a trade, but ultimately couldn’t find a trade partner. But now it’s the offseason, a deal could make more sense for a variety of teams. Should the Washington Commanders be one of those teams? Let’s take a closer look.

On the surface, Kupp doesn’t look like a great option to give up draft capital for. He’ll be 32 before the start of the season and has missed a lot of time through various injuries over the past three seasons. He had his career year in 2021, where he won the triple crown for most receptions (145), yards (1947) and touchdowns (16), but since then he hasn’t been able to play a full season. He played just 9 games in 2022 and 12 games in both 2023 and 2024. So trading for a receiver on the wrong side of 30 that has missed 18 games over the last three years feels like a bad move.

However, despite missing all those games, Kupp has still been very productive. Over the past three seasons, Kupp has averaged 67 catches for 753 yards and 5.6 touchdowns per season, despite missing an average of six games a year over that time. That average would have been the Commanders second best receiver by a significant margin this year. While he might not be the receiver he was back in 2021, watching his film from last season shows he’s still a very productive receiver. The Commanders would obviously have to be comfortable with his medical history, but I think he ticks a lot of boxes for what they are looking for at receiver.

The first thing that stands out when watching Kupp is how he is still the go-to guy in key situations. He’s always been a good route runner but he now has great experience and a wealth of knowledge to understand the small details required for getting open and making himself available in key spots.

If you spend any time watching Kupp, this is a play you’ll have seen a hundred times. On third and short, Kupp lines up in the slot to the right. He runs what’s known as a C.O, meaning choice out. The start of the route is run like a choice route. He releases outside to get into the seam before squaring up. From that position, typically Kupp would have the choice to break in, out or sit down based on the coverage. He used to win on those choice routes constantly back in 2021 and he still runs them well today, but here they have him locked into an out route from that choice look.

Kupp has very little wasted movement here. He takes his outside release and works vertically for a few steps, but only as many as he needs to stack up the slot corner. As soon as he gets just slightly ahead, he knows the corner has to respect his threat vertically, so he immediately cuts off the route outside. He creates separation immediately, but the throw is a little further outside just to be safe. That enables the defender to recover some ground and try to contest the catch, but Kupp shows strong hands, making the catch with his arms fully extended away from his body. This enables Kupp to use his frame to shield the ball from the trailing corner, who tries to reach in and get his hand on the ball. It’s a great effort from the corner but Kupp just keeps the ball out of reach and secures the catch for a first down conversion.

Despite missing plenty of time injured, Kupp was always a key target on third downs because of the skills demonstrated in the clip above. He’s a smart and efficient route runner, has great hands and can use his frame to box out defenders and protect the ball. Those types of skills endear him to the quarterback quickly and build a lot of trust. It’s not just on third down either. His veteran savviness shows up in a variety of situations.

On this play, the Lions attempt to blitz the Rams, sending the slot corner off the edge and replacing him with a safety from deep. Kupp is in the slot and likely runs what is known as a sight adjustment. Kupp likely has a different route called from the route that he actually runs here, but at the snap of the ball, both he and the quarterback see the slot corner blitzing. Kupp knows that there is a ton of vacated space with the slot corner blitzing and the safety still deep, while also understanding that the protection might not be set to account for the blitzing corner. So instead of running a normal route, Kupp quickly spots up and shows his hands to the quarterback, making himself available as a hot route.

You can see that quarterback Matthew Stafford has complete trust in Kupp to read that play the same way he did because Stafford begins his throwing motion before Kupp makes his break. He trusts that Kupp is experienced enough to know when to make that sight adjustment and break off his route to be available. Kupp repays that trust and breaks off at the right time, enabling Stafford to throw over the blitz for a quick completion. Kupp can then transition into yards after catch mode. He makes the incoming safety miss a tackle and picks up an additional six yards after the catch before three defenders eventually rally to bring him down.

Plays like that look simple and not particularly noteworthy, but they are hugely important to the sustainability of an offense. We saw this season with the Commanders that Jayden Daniels was incredibly efficient and able to beat the blitz with both his arm and his legs to move the chains and keep drives alive. But he often relied on either Terry McLaurin or Zach Ertz as his top targets or would have to scramble and do it all himself. Kupp would immediately give him another reliable option in those situations and force the defense to pick and choose who they give extra attention to in those spots.

Another area that Kupp would excel in for the Commanders is working over the middle. In my wide receiver positional profile that I wrote last week, breaking down the key traits the Commanders are looking for in a wide receiver, I examined the desire for physical receivers with the willingness to work over the middle of the field and the ability to get open in those tighter spaces. Kupp has never shied away from that.