Buccaneers Urged To Trade For Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp

It’s going to be hard to imagine a situation in which the Tampa Bay Buccaneers upgrade at wide receiver through free agency.

Tampa Bay is most likely going to lose Chris Godwin, who seems like he can land up to $20 million per season from another team — likely pricing the Buccaneers out of the Godwin sweepstakes unless he gives them a hometown discount.

That means outside of Mike Evans and tight end Cade Otton, there aren’t going to be any proven pass catching options on the roster. Rookie Jalen McMillan was fantastic at the end of the season but hasn’t shown he can put together a consistently good year and injuries were an issue.

Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton thinks one way the Buccaneers could make sure they keep their prolific offense rolling is by trading for Los Angeles Rams wide receiver and former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp.

“The Buccaneers would need to restructure contracts to accommodate Kupp’s salary,” Moton wrote on January 23. “If Godwin signs elsewhere in free agency, Kupp could replace him as a receiver who can line up in the slot or outside.”

Kupp Addressed Future in Los Angeles

Kupp’s name was one of the most popular being tossed around at the NFL trade deadline but he stayed on with the Rams as they made the playoffs and advanced to the NFC Divisional Round.

After a season-ending loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Kupp addressed what his future might hold.

“Who knows what’s going to happen,” Kupp told ESPN’s Sarah Barshop on January 20. “That’s out of my control. And we will see what it’s going to be. … I don’t have any clarity on what that’s going to look like or anything like that. So yeah, obviously would love to be in L.A., but I don’t know what that’s going to look like.”

The biggest 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. He’s 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. Kupp hasn’t had over 1,000 receiving yards since 2021, when he won the NFL’s receiving Triple Crown with 145 receptions for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns and ended the year by being named Super Bowl MVP.

Buccaneers in Offseason Turmoil on Offense

The Buccaneers found themselves in some unexpected offseason turmoil after losing to the Washington Commanders in the NFC Wild Card Round on a last-second field goal.

That drama came courtesy of former offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who told the Buccaneers he was turning down the head coaching job with the Jacksonville Jaguars and leveraged it into becoming the NFL’s highest-paid assistant coach … before doing an about face a few days later and deciding to become the Jaguars’ head coach.

From ESPN: “The Jaguars went from being embarrassed when Coen withdrew to thrilled at landing an offensive guru they hope will solve the puzzle for quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Meanwhile, the Bucs went from believing they had their transformative offensive coordinator secured for several more years to searching for his replacement.”