The Los Angeles Rams have called multiple teams about trading the former Super Bowl MVP, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Mike Silver and Jourdan Rodrigue reported Tuesday, citing sources.

The Rams have called multiple teams about trading former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp sources tell @mikesilver, @jourdanrodrigue, and me.
The Rams have indicated a willingness to take on some of the ‘24 salary and are seeking a 2nd round pick.

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) October 22, 2024

The Rams also reportedly are willing to take on some of Kupp’s 2024 salary if they receive a second-round pick. Fellow star receivers Davante Adams and Amari Cooper both fetched third-round picks in trades over the past few weeks.

Kupp, 31, has two years remaining on his contract after this season — $20 million in 2025 and $19.85 million in 2026.

The former Triple Crown winner has played just two games this season due to an ankle injury suffered on Sept. 15, but head coach Sean McVay said he’s expected to return on Thursday against the Minnesota Vikings.

When healthy, Kupp has been one of the NFL’s best receivers in recent years — but health always is a concern. Injuries have been an issue since his magical 2021 season when he won Super Bowl MVP, the Triple Crown and Offensive Player of the Year. Kupp played just nine games in 2022, 12 games in 2023 and already has missed four games in 2024.

If the Rams are willing to offload Kupp for picks, it could signal that they are embracing a full rebuild. The team is 2-4 this season entering its Week 8 date with the 5-1 Vikings.

With Aaron Donald now retired and Matthew Stafford in his late 30s, the Rams could shift focus to the next era. Los Angeles has drafted well with Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua, Byron Young, Kobie Turner and Jared Verse, and McVay still is just 38 years old despite coaching the team for eight years.

The 2024 NFL trade deadline is set for Tuesday, Nov. 5 — exactly two weeks away.

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Sports team owners benefiting from soaring team values are also facing new pressure from two of the oldest certainties in American wealth: death and taxes.

With the average age of team owners rising, and team values skyrocketing into the billions, owners and leagues are increasingly focused on how to insure smooth ownership transitions to the next generation of buyers. While today’s owners have highly sophisticated tax and succession plans, even the best plans can blow up over family disputes or unexpected tax changes.

“The people who bought sports teams a long time ago have now found that a large portion, if not a vast majority, of their long-term estate is now the value of the team,” said Stephen Amdur, co-leader of mergers and acquisitions and private equity practices at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, who advises many billionaire team owners. “They’re thinking a lot about who is going to hold it for the next generation and what they’re going to do with it.”

Succession and taxes have become especially important in the National Football League, where the average age of team owners is now over 72 and team values are all surging. CNBC’s Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations list, ranking all 32 professional franchises, will be released Thursday.

NFL owners face one of two painful choices: They can sell the team while they’re alive, which can create massive capital gains tax bills, or they can pass the team to their families, which can trigger estate taxes or prolonged family battles for control.

Former Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen created a detailed succession and tax plan for the team a decade before his death in 2019. Yet a bitter dispute among family members, both before and after he died, led the team to be sold in 2022 to Walmart heir Rob Walton for $4.65 billion.

Tennessee Titans founder Bud Adams, who died in October 2013, had divided ownership of the team among three branches of his family, which he thought would keep the peace. Instead, the split created a highly public battle over control, leading to an eventual deal within the family. Amy Adams Strunk, Bud’s daughter, is now controlling owner of the team.

Longtime New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson touched off years of litigation when he removed his daughter and two grandchildren from his estate and passed ownership of the NFL team and the National Basketball Association’s New Orleans Pelicans to his wife Gayle when he died in 2018. She still maintains control of the Saints.

And perhaps the most poignant cautionary tale in the NFL is the legendary Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie, who left the team to his wife and nine children at the time of his death in 1990. A family feud and estate taxes of more than $45 million forced the family to sell a majority of the team in 1994.

Under current U.S. tax law, estates over $13.6 million for individuals or $27.2 million for couples are subject to a tax of 40%. Since teams in the NFL and NBA are now worth billions, all team owners could potentially be subject to hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes without proper planning. 

Another wrinkle: It’s unclear whether the estate tax rates would change in 2025, when the current levels are set to expire. So owners have to be planning for the potential for more punitive estate taxes in the coming years.

Trust and estate attorneys say today’s team owners have a much broader array of tools at their disposal to minimize the tax impact of succession. One of the most popular is the family limited partnership, which makes family members minority stakeholders and leaves the primary owner, as the general partner, with control. By dividing up ownership, the partnership can lower the value of assets (and therefore of the taxable estate) of the general partner.

Owners can also split ownership among family members through individual trusts, as Chicago Bears owner George “Papa Bear” Halas Sr. did with his 13 grandchildren. They can also transfer an interest in the team into an irrevocable trust through a partnership or an LLC.

“Owners are spending more time on the front end thinking about long-term estate planning to ensure as tax-efficient an outcome as possible,” Amdur said.

That’s assuming the team stays in the family, of course. While owners often hope to pass their passion and financial commitment to a team on to their children, the next generations often have different interests or financial goals, which could mean offloading some team ownership.

And there’s now a fresh pool of prospective buyers.

The NFL last week voted to allow select private equity firms to buy minority stakes in teams, giving owners and their families a chance to draw down cash that they could then reinvest in their teams or invest in nonsports assets to better diversify – all while keeping control.

“I think it’s an appropriate thing to give the teams that liquidity to reinvest in the game and to their teams,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in making the announcement.

“It was unexpected and served as a reminder of the importance of staying vigilant about our physical well-being, even when we are feeling fine,” the former Detroit Lions great said in a statement posted Friday on social media.

The Lions issued their own social media post saying, “Get well soon Barry.”

“I am grateful for the amazing doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals for providing me with needed care,” Sanders said. “My family and I are thankful for your prayers and support during this time. Per my doctors’ recommendation, I am taking this opportunity to prioritize my health and well-being. I appreciate your understanding and continued support.”

Sanders, who turns 56 next month, was a six-time All-Pro while starring for the Lions from 1989-98 before his sudden retirement. He rushed for 15,269 yards and 99 touchdowns in his career, including 2,053 yards in his MVP season of 1997.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.

Sanders spent his entire career with the Lions, who selected him with the third overall pick in the 1989 NFL draft after his Heisman Trophy-winning season with Oklahoma State.

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