The Bengals Need To Avoid Cooper Kupp
Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
With Cooper Kupp announcing to the world that the Los Angeles Rams are trying to trade him, rumors have circulated about where he might end up, and it seems one team keeps popping up: the Cincinnati Bengals. Right now, the Bengals are the betting favorites (along with the Pittsburgh Steelers), to land the former Eastern Washington standout.
Now, at a quick glance, it makes sense. Right now, the Bengals don’t have a true No. 2 wide receiver on the roster, and Kupp is a big-name player, with the added quirk of putting the past two Triple Crown winners on the same roster. Even better, coach Zac Taylor has previously worked with him. Kupp’s 59.2 yards per game and six touchdowns could help offset Tee Higgins‘ lost production (75.9 Y/G; 10 TDs).
Peak Kupp would be amazing to have on the roster, but the fact is, he turns 32 in July and is getting further and further removed from the height of his powers. In each of the last three seasons, Kupp hasn’t played more than 12 games or finished with more than 812 yards. Kupp finished last season with 710 yards, ranking 43rd among wide receivers between Quentin Johnston and Wan’Dale Robinson; two recent draft picks with a cap hit around $2-3 million.
Multiply that cap hit by 10, and you have Kupp, who’s projected to have a cap hit around $30 million next year. They might as well re-sign Tee Higgins at that price. Now, the Rams might eat some of that contract, but unless they’re going to shave about $20 million off that, we say No, thank you.
Players don’t get healthier into their 30s, and once a wide receiver starts to slip, they can fall hard. This is hardly a new pattern in the NFL: Wideouts get older, they get hurt, their stats start to slip, and by the end of their contract, teams are just looking for a way to get rid of them to save money.
You might even say the Rams are trying to do this very thing with Kupp right now.
But, hey, let’s look at other examples. The Cowboys signed Dez Bryant to a five-year contract that was set to pay over $70 million. Almost instantly, Jerry Jones regretted dishing out the big bucks. Bryant had finished with three straight years over 1,200 yards, but after the big extension, he never even reached 850 yards again.
We don’t have to look back that far for another example. After two 1,000-yard seasons with the Detroit Lions, Kenny Golladay signed a four-year deal with the New York Giants that was set to pay him $72 million. He lasted two years in the Big Apple, hauling in a total of 43 catches for 602 yards and two touchdowns.
Now, signs probably point towards Kupp being better than those disasters, but for a $30 million cap hit, it almost has to be a guarantee, and this is far from it. Again, Cincinnati would be better off biting the bullet for Higgins, whose new contract is believed to come in around $30 million per year, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
While durability is an issue with the (perhaps-soon-to-be-former) Bengal, Higgins hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down like Kupp, and he’s five years younger. The Bengals have three big decisions to make with Ja’Marr Chase, Trey Hendrickson, and Higgins, but Joe Burrow believes the team will find a way to bring all three guys back.
“We can make it happen,” Burrow said on SiriusXM NFL Radio, via Cincinnati.com. “We can make it happen. And it just has to be right for everybody involved. I know the players want to make it work. We all want to be together. So I don’t see it not working out, but we’ll see.”
Even if things fall apart with Higgins, the Bengals can’t make the impulsive move to overpay for a guy who you can’t even guarantee is going to be on the field. Andrei Iosivas took some big strides forward in 2024. Even if the Bengals have to do a little bit of a wide-receiver-by-committee and perhaps bring in a bargain option like Josh Palmer, Tutu Atwell, or Sterling Shepard at a much cheaper contract, that makes a lot more sense than bringing in Kupp. Burrow can make almost anyone look good; they don’t need to pay Kupp a boatload of cash in hopes they can get the 2021 version of him back.
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