{"id":32874,"date":"2025-03-14T01:33:13","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T01:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=32874"},"modified":"2025-03-14T01:33:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T01:33:13","slug":"ex-nfl-star-urges-chiefs-to-sign-security-blanket-for-patrick-mahomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=32874","title":{"rendered":"Ex-NFL Star Urges Chiefs to Sign \u2018Security Blanket\u2019 for Patrick Mahomes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"c-content entry-content\">\n<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2191773037-e1741864878715.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2191773037-e1741864878715.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2191773037-e1741864878715.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/GettyImages-2191773037-e1741864878715.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"1067\" data-dom-ready-time=\"1154\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Former Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Former NFL star wide receiver Chad Johnson took to X, formerly Twitter, to urge the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0to sign recently released wide receiver\u00a0Cooper Kupp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\">Dear\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"r-18u37iz\">@Chiefs\u00a0<\/span>you want a security blanket,\u201d Johnson wrote and ended with an exclamation point emoji on\u00a0March 12\u00a0in response to the NFL\u2019s post about Kupp\u2019s release.<\/p>\n<p>Kupp, 31, was released on March 12 after eight seasons with the\u00a0Los Angeles Rams. According to\u00a0Spotrac, because Kupp has been designated as a post-June 1 release, the Rams will keep Kupp\u2019s $28.7 million cap hit on their books until June 1 and will save $15 million in cap space come June. The team will then carry $14.78 million in dead cap in 2025 and $7.48 million in 2026.<\/p>\n<h2>Chiefs Could Add Cooper Kupp as Chain Mover<\/h2>\n<p>Once upon a time, Kupp was one of the NFL\u2019s best receivers and arguably one of the best players in the entire league. Even though those days are long gone, Kupp still has enough left in the tank to contribute to an NFL team.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being older, only playing in 12 regular season games, and no longer being the No. 1 option in the Rams passing game, Kupp still managed a 67-710-6 stat line for the 2024 season.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why, despite being a diminished version of himself, Kupp could still be an asset to a team like the Chiefs, who need another player who can win underneath in the passing game.<\/p>\n<p>Rashee Rice\u00a0will eventually fill that role, but he must fully recover from his knee injury first and will likely serve a multi-game suspension during the 2025 season as well. Kupp could fill that role early in the 2025 season and could rotate in once Rice returns to action later in the season.<\/p>\n<p>Simply put \u2014 if the Chiefs could sign Kupp to a one-year, incentive-laden deal, he would be a great addition to Kansas City\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n<h2>Cooper Kupp Bids Farewell to Los Angeles<\/h2>\n<p>Kupp took to\u00a0X on March 12\u00a0to bid farewell to the Rams community.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEight years of incredible memories.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe talked often about the Rams being back in LA and how we would grow to be something special here. And there was frustration early on around getting the buy in from the people of LA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we knew at the end of the day, it\u2019s about providing moments. Shared experiences. The things that parents and their children will talk about and remember forever.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is what makes the ending of these last eight years so difficult. It\u2019s the ending of something we have enjoyed building with you. Thank you for these shared moments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you LA for welcoming my family with open arms and allowing us to grow here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNext chapter starts now. Best is yet to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Users on X reacted to Kupp\u2019s post.\u00a0One person wrote, \u201cThis is killing so many of us who are season-ticket holders\u2026 But I do believe the best is to come for you, a great new chapter\u2026 God is in control. You are awesome, Sir. A strong and humble and wonderful example.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another person wrote, \u201cMan Cooper\u2026say it ain\u2019t so. You\u2019ve made being a Rams fan more special. You\u2019re 1 of 1 and we won\u2019t be able to replace you. You just bring too much to the table on the field and to the fabric that is our culture. Thank you and we wish you all the best down the road. Respect and love always. You\u2019re always a Ram legend.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Former Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp. Former NFL star wide receiver Chad Johnson took to X, formerly Twitter, to urge the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0to sign&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ex-NFL Star Urges Chiefs to Sign \u2018Security Blanket\u2019 for Patrick Mahomes - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=32874\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-NFL Star Urges Chiefs to Sign \u2018Security Blanket\u2019 for Patrick Mahomes - 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