Rams Puka Nacua Re: Cooper Kupp trade rumors: 'I hope it's not true'

Doing what's best for the team is a catch-phrase that surfaces whenever the Los Angeles Rams football organization has to act in a manner that will knowingly not be popular with fans. While the retirement of DT Aaron Donald was his personal choice, the trade of defensive captain and the team's leading tackler Ernest Jones was not. The latter was a business decision, described as doing 'what's best for the team.'

Now at 2-4 and struggling to string consecutive victories together, the optics say otherwise.

It's never easy to make vital decisions for any organization, let alone the publicly aware running of an NFL football team. It's that second-guessing factor that often leads to short chapters in the careers of coaches, coordinators, head coaches, and general managers. Winning is everything, Success can be copied and replicated. Failure leads to the exit.

The latest NFL rumors that are percolating over the LA Rams actively shopping veteran WR Cooper Kupp have galvanized fans into several enclaves. Some deny the veracity of the rumors outright, refusing to accept the possibility. Others are angry, threatening to unfollow the team if it happens, and personally attacking anyone delivering the message. However, recognizing the durability issues with a highly compensated player on a young team is off-kilter, some accept the possibility.

One fan, who happens to be his teammate, hopes that the rumors are untrue. That fan is none other that WR Puka Nacua, who is also reportedly on track to return soon. (We'll talk about that next).

Here is an extract of Nacua's response.

"I hope that (i)s not true. That (i)s somebody (Cooper Kupp) in our locker room a captain and especially like being able to say somebody like I (ha)ve grown a brother relationship with and being able to be around him and his family."

- Puka Nacua

It's clear from Nacua's response that he was not versed in the latest rumors. Beyond that, he seemed to be authentically shocked as, in his own words, both Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford (the subject of another recent rumor) are integral to what the team is trying to accomplish this year.

Ah, but that is subjective after all, isn't it? Fans would certainly share a differing perspective over the outcome of trading away Ernest Jones. So that 'best for the team,' is certainly relative to the framework of the action.

Multiple sources cite the Rams' openness to trading Kupp. Is this a bona fide interest in trading the player? Is this some fair-market-value assessment in case the team wants to make a deadline deal at the 2024 NFL Trade Deadline? Or, is this some form of psychological warfare intending to snap the offense out of its precipitous slump, acknowledging that the most significant factor in the team's horrific 2-4 start is the fact that the most expensive offense in the NFL is simply not holding up its end of the deal.

If the offense needs more motivation to show up in a big way, I'd argue that it just got it.

As always, thanks for reading.

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