After the Minnesota Vikings have spent a lot of resources to fortify the roster and fix the trenches in free agency, they are now being officially linked to a former All-Pro wide receiver Cooper Kupp. The official connection came from The Athletic’s Dianna Russini on the Scoop City podcast.
“Cooper Kupp. So we know the LA Rams cut him, and right now I can tell you there’s a market for him, for sure. From what I was told, he would love to get paid between $14-15 million. I think the realistic number is more $11-12 (million), we’ll see how that shakes out.
“Minnesota Vikings (are) poking around on it. Kevin O’Connell is familiar with Cooper Kupp because they were together when he was with the LA Rams. So this familiarity, which you know we talked about this last time, about the familiarity either working for you or working against you, right? Because the team that knows you, that you’ve been with, knows the good and the bad, right? And sometimes the bad is what probably does get you signed, if there’s coaches from that for that organization on another team, no doubt, I’ve seen that happen, so we’ll see how this shakes out.
Vikings interested in Cooper Kupp
The Vikings being interested in Kupp is a no-brainer. They have three very talented pass catchers in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson. However, the WR3 spot is some what up in the air with some inconsistencies with Jalen Nailor, who is entering the final year of his contract. With J.J. McCarthy likely taking over the starting quarterback spot this year, giving him as much help as you can is a great idea.
Kupp has played eight seasons with the Rams in Sean McVay’s offense with two of those coming when Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was the offensive coordinator. That included his best year when Kupp won the receiving triple crown with the most receptions (145), yards (1,947), and touchdowns (16).T
The Vikings fans aren’t alone in their pursuit. Russini named three other teams who are in on Kupp.
Seattle Seahawks
Green Bay Packers
New Orleans Saints
That is some serious competition for Kupp as the Saints need a wide receiver with Chris Olave consistently being injured, the Packers need an alpha to stabilize the room, and the Seahawks just moved on from DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
If the Vikings can pull this off, it would be a huge coup to maximize their window, and we know how O’Connell can maximize talent.