While everyone has spent months talking about what the Washington Commanders need to add in order to become an elite NFL team … they became an elite NFL team with the players they already have on their roster.
The biggest sticking point has been the lack of a second wide receiver option — something the Commanders seemed like they actually do have when Dyami Brown had 5 receptions for 89 yards and 1 touchdown in a 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card Round.
But Brown is a free agent and will likely cash in on a bigger deal with a new team in 2025. And it’s worth pointing out that playoff heroics aside, he’s still a player who had just 30 receptions for 308 yards and 1 touchdown in 16 regular season games.
That’s one big reason why Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton thinks the Commanders should make a move to trade for Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp in the offseason — a proposed deal that lands the 31-year-old former Super Bowl MVP in Washington in exchange for a 2025 third round pick and 2025 seventh round pick.
“Los Angeles could find a No. 2 receiver in the upcoming draft,” Moton wrote. “General manager Les Snead took Kupp in the third round in 2017. Though Kupp’s receiving numbers have declined, he’s a reliable chain-mover who can be a safety blanket for a developing quarterback. The Washington Commanders can help Jayden Daniels with this move.”
Commanders Shouldn’t Overpay for Kupp
The Commanders already made a deft move at wide receiver when they snowed the Philadelphia Eagles into sending them a 2025 third round pick and a pair of 2025 seventh round picks in exchange for first round bust Jahan Dotson and a 2025 fifth round pick.
The bigger problem with obtaining Kupp in a trade is his terrible contract. Kupp signed a 3-year, $80.1 million contract extension in June 2022 that has 2 years remaining on it. Kupp is due a base salary of $12.5 million and a roster bonus of $7.5 million in 2025 with a cap hit of $29.78 million and a dead cap hit of $22.26 million. That’s just not the type of money you pay for a player who only had 67 receptions for 610 yards and 6 touchdowns in 12 games in 2024 and hasn’t had over 1,000 receiving yards since 2021.
Kupp is also injury prone. He’s missed at least 5 games each of the last 3 seasons with injuries.
If the Commanders decide they’re set on bringing Kupp in, it would take more than just swapping him for some draft picks. Ideally, the Rams would need to eat a good chunk of his 2025 salary and he would need to restructure his deal with the thought or receiving a little more guaranteed money — paying him $40 million over the next 2 seasons should be a non-starter.
Commanders Have Other Draft Needs Besides WR
The Commanders have more pressing draft needs besides wide receiver and it’s more likely they could take a shot with a high-profile free agent at that position with almost $100 million in salary cap space.
Mainly, they need offensive linemen to protect Daniels and that’s almost certainly the direction they will go in with their first round pick in 2025. The latest mock draft from CBS Sports has them projected to take Alabama interior offensive lineman Tyler Booker with the No. 26 overall pick.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Trade Pitch Brings Commanders Former Super Bowl MVP appeared first on Heavy Sports.