Torry Holt knows what it takes to sustain success for a long period of time with one team and he’s seen Cooper Kupp do exactly that with the Los Angeles Rams. Kupp just wrapped up his eighth season in the NFL, all with the Rams, but there’s a possibility it will be his last in Los Angeles.
After fielding calls before the trade deadline in October, the Rams could move on from Kupp this offseason. Holt hopes that isn’t the case, though. He wants to see Kupp retire with the organization that drafted him eight years ago.
During an appearance on NFL Network, Holt praised Kupp for the way he handled adversity this season, from trade rumors to a reduced role in the receiver rotation.
“I think the way that he handled everything this year was a testament to his character and who he is,” Holt said. “That’s one of the reasons this football team is in the position they’re in, because of character guys like Cooper Kupp. A guy that comes in every single day and works his butt off, handles himself in the correct way, encourages his teammates. Not only is he productive, but he shares the information with Puka and the other guys in that receiver room. And I sat in the receiver room with them and watched how he manages himself.”
From The Insiders on @NFLNetwork: #Rams legend Torry Holt, a Hall of Fame finalist once again, joined me and @TomPelissero to discuss his prospects for making it this year and offer thoughts on the current #Rams team. pic.twitter.com/h4HlbaUKvp
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 22, 2025
Holt didn’t retire a Ram, finishing his career with one last year in Jacksonville, but he believes Kupp deserves to remain in Los Angeles for the remainder of his time in the NFL.
“I would love to see Cooper Kupp retire a Ram,” he said emphatically. “I think he’s deserved it, I think he epitomizes what it is to be a Los Angeles Ram. When you think about the lineage of receivers, when you think about our club and our organization, he fits right into that mold. I would love to see him retire as a Ram, but I know how this business works. And he knows how it works. I think once he heard his name thrown around a little bit at the trade deadline at the beginning of the year, it may have been a little challenging for him to come back from that. But he was the ultimate pro, didn’t say a word, just kept his head down and continued to work day in and day out. And had some big plays in the playoffs to help this football team. We’ll see how it lands – we all know it’s a business – we’ll see how it goes. But again, I’ll repeat, I would love to see Cooper Kupp remain a Ram and retire a Ram.”
The biggest thing standing in the way of a continued relationship between Kupp and the Rams is his contract. He has a cap hit of $29.78 million in 2025, much too high for a player who hasn’t started more than 12 games in a season since 2021.
Add in the fact that Kupp’s role shrunk at the end of the year and his age (he’ll be 32 in June), and it’s easy to see why the two sides might be headed toward a split. Kupp’s aware of the possibility that he won’t be back with the Rams but one thing’s for sure: He will be playing somewhere in 2025.
