The Los Angeles Rams paid a hefty price to move on from Cooper Kupp this offseason, releasing him after failing to trade him to another team. In doing so, they took on $22.26 million in dead money, saving $7.52 million against the salary cap.
While the financial savings is nice, that dead cap charge will linger for the 2025 season as money the Rams can’t allocate elsewhere.
It was originally reported that the Rams designated Kupp as a post-June 1 release, which would allow them to spread out his dead cap charge over the next two seasons, leaving only $14.78 million in dead money this year. However, Rams VP of football and business administration Tony Pastoors confirmed on Monday how much cap space Kupp will take up in 2025.
He told Rams senior writer Stu Jackson that the Rams will incur a dead cap charge of about $22 million this year and Kupp will be off the books in 2026. The contract Kupp signed with the Seahawks, which included a $12 million signing bonus, helped offset the money Los Angeles owed him this year.
Over The Cap reflects Kupp’s cap charge as $22.26 million in 2025 and he’s off the salary cap for the Rams in 2026. As of now, Los Angeles is projected to have $75.3 million in cap space next year, depending on exactly how high the NFL sets the salary cap.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams salary cap: Cooper Kupp's dead cap charge confirmed for 2025