Seahawks WR Cooper Kupp seems puzzled by Rams exit

Wide receiver Cooper Kupp made it known in February he didn't "agree" with the Los Angeles Rams' decision to try to trade him before the Rams released him at the start of free agency on March 12. 

During Tuesday's news conference related to Kupp signing a three-year, $45M deal with the Seattle Seahawks, the 31-year-old opened up about his exit from the club he clearly never wanted to leave. 

"I'm sure they have their reasons for why they wanted to do things, whatever it is," Kupp said, as shared by ESPN's Brady Henderson. "Not a ton of clarity in that regard, but at the end of the day, I'm thankful to be able to walk away from that organization and be able to look back on all those memories, all those experiences, all those things that we were able to go through together, the relationships that we had with so many people there, and look at it in a positive light and be very thankful for my time in Los Angeles. It's something that we will always cherish."

While Kupp will forever be a Rams icon who earned Super Bowl LVI Most Valuable Player honors in February 2022, injuries limited him to 33 regular-season games over the past three campaigns. For a piece first published on Feb. 17, The Athletic's Jourdan Rodrigue wrote that the Rams moving on from Kupp was related to his "struggles to stay healthy and the emergence of a tight-knit core of young players who have built their identity inside a locker room that is detached from the previous Super Bowl era."

"It's been difficult," Kupp admitted about having to leave what was the only NFL home of his career. "In all honesty, it's been very difficult and frustrating. There's been lots of questions and things. It's a real tough situation. I've said, I always imagined that I'd finish my career there, but that's not the plan that God had for me and my family."

Analysts have praised the Rams' offseason moves that included working things out with quarterback Matthew Stafford and essentially replacing Kupp with Davante Adams. One may assume Kupp wants to show the Rams they made a mistake by thinking his best days are in the past, but he insisted on Tuesday that's not the case. 

"It's never been about proving people wrong," Kupp added. "I've lived in that space, and it never goes well. It's been about being who I am, believing in myself and knowing that I can be who I see myself becoming. When I've taken that attitude, when I've taken that mindset, that's when I've always been at my best. I'll continue that."