Cooper Kupp Lands in Seattle — Fantasy Impact

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Only two days after his release from the Los Angeles Rams, former Triple Crown-winning receiver Cooper Kupp found a new job Friday, staying in the NFC West to sign with the Seattle Seahawks. Kupp is reportedly getting a deal worth up to three years and $45 million.

Kupp led the NFL in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947) and receiving touchdowns (16) in 2021, shattering the all-time record for most PPR points by a receiver (439.5, besting the previous record by 25.5) and winning Offensive Player of the Year. Since then, though, injury and declining efficiency have limited Kupp to 33 games, 201 receptions, 2,259 yards and 17 touchdowns in three years. His yards per route run, a massive 3.1 in 2021 and 2022 (per FTN StatsHub), has dropped way off, to 1.9 in 2023 and 2.0 in 2024. Per ESPN’s player tracking data, he went from one of the most open receivers (15^th of 160) in 2021 to one of the least (141^st of 159) in 2024.

Still, Kupp — despite turning 32 this June — has commanded big targets when the situation calls for it. He had games of 10, 11, 14 and 21 targets last year in Los Angeles, primarily coming when Puka Nacua was injured. He has 11 touchdowns and seven 100-yard games in the last two seasons despite Nacua’s emergence. It’s a very Toby Keith, “I ain’t as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was” situation.

The fit in Seattle is a curious one, however. (Apart from Kupp being a Washington native and an Eastern Washington University product.) After releasing Tyler Lockett and trading away DK Metcalf earlier this offseason, the Seahawks will enter 2025 with Jaxon Smith-Njigba as the team’s clear WR1. Both receivers do their best work out of the slot (Smith-Njigba ran 81.2% of his routes from the slot last year, Kupp 63.6%), with JSN exploding when the team got him aligned out of the slot more after his rookie year. This situation all but guarantees one (or both) of these receivers will align outside more often, which likely diminishes their efficiency. This signing reeks of “We needed a big-name receiver and he was the last left, even if it doesn’t suit our needs exactly.”

The Seahawks would do very well to bolster one of the league’s worst offensive lines before the offseason is over, especially to protect new quarterback Sam Darnold. Assuming the team can get passes off in decent time, Kupp’s arrival probably bumps JSN down to the mid-WR2 range (though with upside for more if it turns out Father Time has truly caught up with Kupp). Kupp, meanwhile, will start out as a flex play with significant weekly upside.