Cooper Kupp happy to land with Seahawks

(Ethan McReynolds / FOX 13 Seattle)

RENTON, Wash. - Cooper Kupp had always envisioned himself playing his entire career with the Los Angeles Rams, but the chance to return home to play for the Seattle Seahawks is a welcome alternative.

"Growing up watching Seattle, watching football being a huge part of my life, and then playing at Eastern Washington, full circle moment coming back to being able to throw on a Seattle Seahawks uniform," Kupp said on Tuesday. That's a really cool thing and something that I don't take lightly. Just really excited to be able to be a part of this program, what this program has been about and continue to move forward."

The backstory:

Kupp, 31, was informed by the Rams in early February they would be looking to trade him to another team. When no trade partner materialized, the Rams elected to release Kupp last week instead.

"I'm sure they have their reasons for why they want to do things, whatever it is," Kupp said. "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 and 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."

Once Kupp knew he was going to become a free agent and able to choose his next destination, the focus quickly shifted to the Seahawks as a top option. Kupp and his wife, Anne Marie, both grew up in Yakima and went to AC Davis High School.

"It was pretty quick in terms of expressing the interest once I was released," Kupp said. "I thought that as we went through things, I thought that the messaging from Mike (Macdonald) and from John (Schneider), from Kubes (Klint Kubiak), all the guys I talked to here, the messaging was right on par with what I thought was how you build a championship team. It's about the people. You focus on bringing good people that are about ball, and all the other stuff is going to fall in place.

"I know the best teams I've been a part of have been built that way. So that excited me. As time went on, talking to Ernest Jones, who's been here who I've known, talking to Jaxon (Smith-Njigba), talking with Sam (Darnold) after he had signed on and various guys in the organization, just like, hey, there's the messaging every time; it's like, hey, we're building something here that's special, and we've got the right people in the building to do it. It just built up, and now I'm really excited to be a part of it."

Kupp has 634 receptions for 7,776 yards and 57 touchdowns in 104 career games with the Rams. He delivered the fifth triple crown campaign in NFL history, leading the league in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947) and receiving touchdowns (16). However, injuries have limited Kupp in the three years since his record season. He's missed 18 games over the last three seasons and hasn't played more than 12 games in any one season. Even so, Kupp still finished last year with 67 receptions for 710 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games played.

"It's never been about proving other people wrong," Kupp said. I've lived in that space and it never goes well. It's been about being who I am, like 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. And I'll continue that. I know how to navigate these waters. I've been here before, and it's not about the negative energy of trying to prove anything wrong, anyone else wrong, trying to make anyone else feel bad about anything, just about being myself and being who I believe I can be, and going out there and playing the game I love."

Kupp said he believes there's plenty of potential in the offense with Kubiak as coordinator. One criticism of the Kupp signing has been that both Kupp and Smith-Njigba have been best in the slot receiver role and it may not be the best fit to pair the two together.

Kupp dismissed those concerns,

"The ability to move in an offense and the ability in this offense and what (Klint) Kubiak has done is being able to formation guys to be anywhere. That's how I had learned this offense originally was that you've got to learn the whole thing because you could be in any one of these spots at any time. You can't think of yourself as just a slot, you have to see yourself as playing any one of these positions at any time because you could be asked to run any one of these routes. I think Jaxon (Smith-Njigba) did some of that same stuff last year when he played inside and outside and being able to run routes that are typically for an X or an F or a Z, being able to run all that stuff. I think that's what we've got. We've got guys that are going to be willing to learn the offense as a whole there and be able to take advantage of those opportunities."

Kupp had a No. 10 jersey, which had previously belonged to linebacker Uchenna Nwosu. The number had been Nwosu's for the last three seasons. However, Kupp reached an agreement with Nwosu for the number that involved a donation to Nwosu's charitable foundation.

Nwosu will now wear No. 7, which had previously belonged to quarterback Geno Smith. Nwosu wore No. 7 at Narbonne High School in Los Angeles.

"He was great to work with, and (I was) able to donate to his foundation and make sure that he felt good about that," Kupp said. "He mentioned he's played his best football in No. 10, and it had been important to him, and just his time in Seattle and clearly the community was an important part of this whole thing. So I respect his desires there, and able to work it out, and thankful for him being able to work something out for us."

By joining the Seahawks, Kupp will get to face his former team twice a year moving forward. Kupp said it wasn't a driving factor for him to sign in Seattle. But it's certainly an extra motivation factor.

"I am looking forward to it," Kupp said of playing the Rams. "That didn't play into the decision to come here, but it's a nice little thing on the side to be able to go against those guys and know a lot of those guys, so much respect for the coaching staff, the way they handle things down there, the players down there. I am excited about it, though. It's going to be a really cool thing. When that time comes, it will just be football at that point. But I am looking forward to it."

The Source: Introductory press conference with Cooper Kupp at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center.