Rams have obvious Puka Nacua contract solution they’re not using

The Los Angeles Rams have a huge decision to make regarding star wide receiver Puka Nacua’s contract.

Nacua, who is arguably the NFL’s best receiver, is about to enter the final year of his four-year, $4.08 million rookie contract. He’s eligible to sign a contract extension this offseason, but Los Angeles is reportedly keen to wait until after the upcoming season before deciding whether to give Nacua the blockbuster deal his on-field production warrants.

Or the Rams could apply the 2027 franchise tag on Nacua, which is a one-year, guaranteed deal that’s the average of the top five salaries at that player’s position. This will be $31.5 million for wide receivers for the 2026-2027 season.

This isn’t ideal for Nacua, especially because he could expect something around the four-year, $168.6 million contract extension that Seattle Seahawks star Jaxon Smith-Njigba (who was in the same draft class as Nacua) signed earlier this offseason.

But Nacua’s off-field concerns are making the Rams hesitant to give him so much money right now, at least before seeing that he can get back on the straight and narrow for a year. After all, Smith-Njigba didn’t have to enter rehab this offseason.

However, the decision to slap a franchise tag on Nacua isn’t so simple. The problem is that all of this $31.5 million franchise tag would count against the Rams’ salary cap.

What Puka Nacua Contract Could Look Like

If Los Angeles were to agree to a deal with the 25-year-old this offseason, they could negotiate the deal so that he receives a huge signing bonus that would be equally dispersed throughout the contract’s term.

For example, if Puka signed a four-year, $170 million extension with the Rams, they could make $65 million of that a signing bonus. The talented wideout would receive all of the money immediately, but it would show up as $16.25 million per year over the four-year deal.

There would still be the contract’s fully-guaranteed money to account for. But the Rams and Nacua could negotiate that so the vast majority of his fully-guaranteed money is backloaded, to the point where he could theoretically have a $2 million or so guaranteed base salary in 2027.

If this were the deal Los Angeles were to make with Puka before the season, his salary cap hit this year would be $18.25 million, as opposed to the $31.5 million he’d be making on a franchise tag. And the Rams could use that $13.25 million salary cap difference to add other talent to their roster this year.

Doing this sort of deal makes perfect sense for the Rams, especially while reigning NFL MVP Matthew Stafford is still with the team before calling it a career. They’d be keeping Nacua around at a manageable salary for the end of Stafford’s career while also having extra salary cap space to improve other roles on their roster.

In short, the Rams signing Puka to a long-term contract extension with a big signing bonus this offseason would save them cap space and keep their most talented offensive player in town for the long haul, as opposed to giving Nacua a franchise tag doing neither.

This makes the decision seem somewhat simple from the outside looking in.