If wide receiver Puka Nacua keeps playing at his current level, the Los Angeles Rams will have to show him the money.
The sports-contract-analysis website Spotrac estimated Nacua’s second contract, which would pay him more than $36 million annually to keep him in Los Angeles through 2030.
Nacua leads the NFL in receptions (52) and receiving yards (588 yards) through the Rams‘ 3-2 start and is one of of the best three-season runs in league history — especially for a player that was chosen by the Rams from BYU with the 177th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Nacua is signed for a bargain-basement $1.03 million deal for this year. He is signed through next season but will be eligible for free agency in 2027 — as a fifth-round pick, Nacua’s deal does not have a fifth-year option for the Rams to exercise.
Puka Nacua’s Second Contract Will Make Him One Of The Highest-Paid Non-QBs
Nacua is on pace for 177 catches, which would shatter the record for most receptions in a season — set by Michael Thomas in 2019, when he reeled in 149 for the New Orleans Saints. He’s also on a 2,000-yard receiving pace, which would break Calvin Johnson’s NFL record of 1,976 set in 2012.
Yet, even if he does not break either — or both — of those records, the mere mention of him as one of the top wideouts in football will get him a huge second deal, according to Spotrac writer Michael Ginnitti.
“The 2023 5th-rounder went from a veritable nobody, to a record-setting WR and a household name,” Ginnitti wrote in his too-early all-extension candidate lineup. “Nacua is averaging 7 catches, 93 yards per game through 2+ seasons, and becomes extension-eligible for the first time this coming offseason. Heâs a 4 year, $146M ($36.5M APY) player in our system right now.”
At $36.5 million, Nacua would be the second-highest paid wideout in the game, behind only Ja’Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals ($40.5 million). At that AAV, Nacua would be the eighth-highest-paid non-quarterback — which is obviously subject to change since new extensions are signed every off-season.
Puka Nacua’s Second Contract Could Set Records
Chase earned the moniker of highest-paid receiver after his sensational, 127-catch, 1,708-yard 2024 season, where he qualified for his first All-Pro team and finished third in NFL Offensive Player of the Year voting.
So the fact Nacua is on pace to break a pair of not just franchise records — which would be impressive, since Cooper Kupp’s 141-catch, 1,906-yard season in 2021 both put him in the top-two in NFL history — could reset the wide-receiver market and make him more valuable even than Chase.
EDGE rusher Micah Parsons just commanded a $46.5 million annual-average value on his contract, and No. 1 wide receivers are a valued commodity — since three of the top-10 highest-paid non-quarterbacks are wideouts, Chase, Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings and CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys.
Yet, the fact Nacua boasts the second-highest yards-per-game average in NFL history — behind only Jefferson and ahead of Chase — will only bolster his case for the richest wide receiver contract in NFL history. This is especially true since Nacua will sign his second contract a year before Jefferson and Chase did, age-wise, since Nacua did not get a fifth-year option with his rookie deal.
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