Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury tried to get Rams’ Aaron Donald to ‘retire,’ Cooper Kupp to ‘hold out’

It was previously learned that free-agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. “crashed” the wedding of Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay this past weekend. 

Beckham, who earned a Super Bowl ring with the Rams in February, apparently wasn’t the only person getting into mischief during that happy event.  

Per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN, Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury jokingly admitted on Thursday he had conversations with Los Angeles superstars Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp at McVay’s wedding. For starters, Kingsbury remarked he “did my best” to convince Donald to retire rather than put pen to paper on a new deal with the Rams. 

“I told him, he’s accomplished all he can accomplish and it’s a great idea to go out on your own terms, all that,” Kingsbury said of that conversation. 

Those words didn’t take, as the Rams confirmed on Monday that Donald would be running it back with the club via a massive pay raise that will reportedly earn the three-time Defensive Player of the Year $95 million over the next three seasons.

Kingsbury added he attempted to convince Kupp, the Super Bowl LVI Most Valuable Player, to “stop taking that McVay discount” and hold out through the summer for a better deal. Kupp didn’t have to wait long to get paid, as reports emerged Wednesday claiming he and the Rams had agreed to an extension that, according to Sarah Barshop of ESPN, includes $75 million guaranteed and makes his overall contract worth $110 million over five years. 

If nothing else, Kingsbury deserves credit for not missing any opportunity to gain an advantage over a division rival.