Rams WR Puka Nacua: ‘I Want To Retire At The Age Of 30’

Rams WR Puka Nacua has had an incredible start to his career, averaging 88.4 receiving yards per game through his first 28 regular season games.

As a fifth-round pick, Nacua has exceeded all expectations early and often in his career as he has quickly transformed into the team’s go-to offensive playmaker. 

Despite the early success that has him in company with other elite receivers, Nacua opened up on his desire to retire by the time he’s 30 years old. With the damages that come with playing football, Nacua wants to prioritize his long-term health and maximize the time he’s able to spend with his future family.

“I know I want to retire at the age of 30,” Nacua said, via The Lobby podcast. “I’m 23 right now, I’m going into Year 3 – it wouldn’t even be 10 years. It’d be maybe seven or eight. I think of Aaron Donald, to go out at the top, I think it would be super cool. But also, I want to have a big family. I want to have at least a starting five. I came from a big family so I need five boys, for sure. But also, like, I want to be able to be a part of their lives and be as active as I can with them.”

“The injuries are something you can’t control [as] part of the game, so you never know. Hopefully, the rest of the career can go healthy, but you have shoulder surgery, you have knee surgery, you have ankle. By the time my kids could be 18, I could be barely walking if you play the game and sustain all the injuries and stuff like that, but I want to retire early.”

Nacua, 23, was a fifth-round pick of the Rams in the 2023 NFL Draft out of BYU. He is entering the third year of a four-year, $4.1 million contract through 2026 and is set to make a base salary of $1.03 million in 2025.

In 2024, Nacua appeared in 11 games for the Rams and caught 79 passes on 106 targets for 990 yards to go along with 11 carries for 46 yards and four total touchdowns.