Rams have obvious Puka Nacua contract solution theyre 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.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 majo...