Rams try to put Cooper Kupp toothpaste back in tube

Before the Rams won two games in five days to move into a three-way tie for second place in the NFC West, they were trying to trade aging and expensive receiver Cooper Kupp.

After moving from 1-4 to 3-4, the Rams apparently decided not to do the thing they were trying to do. And to pretend they were never trying to do it. And to call out those who were reporting that they were trying to do the thing they were trying to go.

“Here’s what I’ll tell you: Teams reached out,” coach Sean McVay said after the 30-20 upset of the Vikings. “Some of the things I’ve seen out there — they’re just not true. We’ve addressed that with those individuals. Teams have called about him and we let him know what the dialogue was there. And then there’s a lot of stuff out there where there’s not a lot of accountability to the reports. And that’s unfortunate.”

If the Rams addressed any of the reports about the Rams actually calling teams about trading for Kupp, we’ve yet to see any retractions. We doubt that we will.

Again, any team that is trying to trade for a player has no reason to say that multiple teams are talking to the team for which the player plays. Reports like that can only make it harder to close the deal, because other teams will come to the table and compete for the player.

Remember when the Rams were trying to trade for Matthew Stafford? The Rams didn’t say squat. The Lions didn’t say squat. If anyone had, other teams would have tried to get in the chase for Stafford — and the price would have gone up.

It’s possible that McVay doesn’t know the truth about the Kupp talks. As one source with knowledge of the dynamics of trade talks and reporting on trade talks works said about the Kupp reports, “This has all the markings of a [Les] Snead/[Kevin] Demoff production.”

Look, we understand why the Rams would change their mind about trading Kupp. And we understand why they want Kupp to not think they were going to dump him and his salary without a second thought. But there’s no need to call people out for reports that are “just not true” and to pontificate about a perceived lack of “accountability” when there’s nothing for which to be accountable.

There’s no reason to doubt the accuracy of the reporting about the Rams calling teams about trading for Kupp, or about the Rams being willing to pay some of Kupp’s salary. None. And in a credibility fight between people who make their living covering the NFL and the Rams, we won’t pick a winner.

We’ll just ask St. Louis.