After spending the entirety of his eight-year career with the Los Angeles Rams, Cooper Kupp broke the NFL news cycle by inking a three-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks. Now enjoying a $45 million trip back to his home state of Washington, the 31-year-old wide receiver is set to see the other side of a storied NFC West rivalry.
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In one of his first sit-down interviews as a Seahawk, Kupp joined The Insiders‘ Mike Garafolo to discuss his various interactions with the two franchises. In describing the environment at Lumen Field as being “renowned,” the former triple crown winner confessed that
“It’s been eight years of just hating coming up here and deal with them, so it’s just a good rewiring to have all those juices now behind you and cheering you on. Being able to be apart of that, I’m really looking forward to that. It’s going to be a cool environment to be a part of.”
Having competed against Seattle 12 times, Kupp amassed a career total of 815 receiving yards and 70 receptions against his newfound team. However, it is worth noting that he was seemingly able to block out the Seahawks’ well-touted 12th man, as the Super Bowl LVI MVP award winner averaged just over 80 receiving yards a game throughout his six appearances in Seattle.
After missing 19 regular season games throughout the past three seasons, many feared that a dip in production was all but certain for Kupp in 2025. With fans and pundits alike inquiring about the role that he will play inside of this new Seahawks’ offense, the sure-handed receiver described the situation as “a work in progress” while maintaining that the team does in fact have some title aspirations of its own.
“I think with [Klint Kubiak] in here, installing the offense, and we’re all going to kind of be coming into this year in the same place offensively. Learning this offense and figuring out what it’s going to look like and how all of these pieces are going to come together… The end goal here is to win a championship,” Kupp added.
Kupp is not the only one to watch out for at the Seahawks. Sam Darnold will join him as well this season and their success together could decide the team’s fate.
Kupp reflects on playing with Darnold
After a blockbuster trade saw the Seahawks say goodbye to Geno Smith, Kupp isn’t the only new guy in town. Cashing in on his breakout 2024 regular season performance, Sam Darnold signed a 3-year, $100,5000,000 in hopes of proving himself capable of maintaining a starting role in the NFL.
In noting that the former Minnesota Viking has endured his fair share of adversity throughout his career, Kupp recalled his time spent watching the earlier days of Darnold.
“I remember watching some of Sam’s stuff early on and just in terms of throwing the football, I thought he made some incredible throws… He’s maybe more mobile than people think… In watching him at USC and the way he competed there, I’m excited about it.“
Citing Darnold’s tenacity and confidence as the driving forces behind his excitement, Kupp will now hope to channel those same traits as he attempts to the make most of the twilight years of his NFL career.
