LA Rams Don't Seem Committed To Bringing Back Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp
We're just a few weeks away from the 2025 Super Bowl, and the Los Angeles Rams and general manager Les Snead are making plans to try to get back to the NFL championship game. And they may or may not include two of the biggest faces of this era of Rams football: quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp.
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Snead spoke to Adam Grosbard from the Orange County Register about the Rams personnel decisions coming this offseason, particularly Stafford and Kupp. Several years ago, Snead described them both as "weight-bearing walls," and when asked if that was still the case, he didn't seem nearly so sure.
"They've definitely been weight-bearing walls," Snead said. "I know where you're going with that, kind of what's next for them - and again think with each player, and it's not just them, you can go to the players, the Higs, and those are going to be the players that have been here awhile, they're still under contract with us - and usually it's a question about do you want to keep playing football, similar to what Aaron Donald went through, all the contract structures that you go through."
"Our philosophy here, I know Sean mentioned it, we're going to decompress, we're going to try to get through this weekend because it'll be painful watching at least in the NFC two other teams vie for that conference championship instead of us. They earned it, even though they earned it I probably won't watch it. And then what we'll try to do is really, really get re-energized and come in because now you gotta start putting the puzzle together."
Usually, the way this thing goes, there's a subset of players that are on your roster, contracts, those are pretty much easier players. They're going to be here and we'll begin figuring out ideally how they fit the season and then how they contribute. There's a subset of players that our contracts are expiring, and we'll have to work through. There's that. And there's that subset of players that we talk about that are on the back nine of their career and how many more years are they going to play NFL football and how many more years are they going to play together. We haven't done that yet. We'll figure it out. I can say that, if you're speaking to Cooper and Matthew, I don't even know if I can put into words what those two mean to this organization. I probably have a picture behind me somewhere of Matthew on the sideline with Cooper Kupp catching a ball at SoFi on the last weekend of the NFL season, and Matthew Stafford, that changed the course of this franchise and there's a banner hanging in that stadium that only one team gets a year of. I'll say that. What can I say about that? That moment's in a lot of memories and a lot of pictures. That's what I mean to us."
Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford makes a pre-snap adjustment vs. the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium. (Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)
Would Rams Move On From Stafford, Kupp?
Snead continued, discussing his quarterback-wide receiver combo.
"I can say that, if you're speaking to Cooper and Matthew, I don't even know if I can put into words what those two mean to this organization. I probably have a picture behind me somewhere of Matthew on the sideline with Cooper Kupp catching a ball at SoFi on the last weekend of the NFL season, and Matthew Stafford, that changed the course of this franchise and there's a banner hanging in that stadium that only one team gets a year of. I'll say that. What can I say about that? That moment's in a lot of memories and a lot of pictures. That's what I mean to us."
That's a lot of very fine compliments for Stafford and Kupp, and deservedly so. And very little in the way of confirmation that they'll be back in Los Angeles.
The Rams, and the players themselves, do have some decisions to make. Stafford has considered retirement, and Kupp is somehow already 31-years-old. But it's hard to imagine the Rams without those players on the roster. Snead seems to already be starting.