The Los Angeles Rams might be cutting ties with one of their top stars ahead of the trade deadline. 

Wide receiver Cooper Kupp has been at the center of trade talks as the Rams have called teams to gauge their interest in the 31-year-old standout, The Athletic reported Tuesday. Los Angeles is reportedly seeking a second-round pick in a deal involving Kupp and is willing to eat some of his 2024 salary in order to get its desired return. 

Kupp, 31, has a $29.7 million cap hit for the 2024 season as part of his current three-year, $80.1 million deal. However, $9.1 million of his remaining salary for the 2024 season is guaranteed, per Spotrac. Kupp’s salary for 2025 is set at $20 million, but only $5 million of it is guaranteed, allowing for a potential out following the 2024 season.

A trade involving Kupp would seem to further signal the end of an era in Los Angeles. Kupp, the Super Bowl LVI MVP, is one of the few remaining key contributors from the Rams’ 2021 championship-winning team who’s still on the roster.

However, the Rams are tracking toward missing the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons. They’re 2-4 as they’ve dealt with a handful of key injuries to open up the season.

Kupp is among that group of notable players who’ve missed a considerable amount of time for the Rams so far in 2024. He’s been out since Week 2 due to a sprained ankle, but will likely make his return to the field when the Rams host the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night. 

Injuries have been a concern for Kupp over the last few seasons, missing 17 games since the start of the 2022 season due to a pair of ankle injuries and a hamstring issue. But he’s still been productive when healthy, recording 152 receptions for 1,696 yards and 12 touchdowns in the 23 games he’s played over the last three years. He had 14 receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown in the one full game he played in this season.

Wide receiver Puka Nacua became one of the NFL’s most surprising breakout stories last season both in place of and alongside Kupp, who started 2023 on injured reserve. Nacua himself has been on injured reserve after aggravating a knee injury in the Rams’ Week 1 loss to the Detroit Lions, but the Rams opened his 21-day practice window on Tuesday, signaling that Nacua should return to the field in the coming weeks. His presence may make the trade of Kupp more palatable to quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has developed a close dynamic with both pass catchers.

Before being riddled with injuries over the last three seasons, Kupp was firmly in the debate as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. He recorded the receiving triple crown in 2021, hauling in a league-best 145 receptions that season for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns. He continued that dominance in the postseason as well, setting the record for most receptions in a postseason (33) and winning the aforementioned Super Bowl MVP for his 92-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Cincinnati Bengals.

A pair of veteran receivers with a similar pedigree to Kupp have already been traded this season. Both Davante Adams and Amari Cooper were traded for third-round picks in deals earlier in October. However, the third-round pick the Las Vegas Raiders got for Adams can become a second-round selection while the Cleveland Browns also gave up a sixth-round pick when they traded Cooper to the Buffalo Bills.

The NFL’s trade deadline is Nov. 5, which is two weeks from Tuesday.

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