With Rams receiver Puka Nacua potentially missing a second straight game due to a groin injury, questions remain about when he will return. And now it’s impossible not to wonder if the lack of a new contract is contributing to the situation. Nacua is making $5.767 million in the final year of his rookie contract. Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who entered the NFL the same year as Nacua, got his second contract, worth $42.15 million a year. Yes, Nacua’s contract has been delayed due to his off-field problems. But without financial security beyond this year, Nacua surely doesn’t want to risk aggravating the injury and missing even more time. Likewise, he doesn’t want to perform in a way that reduces the perception that he deserves to be paid among the league’s best at that position. Those dynamics are lurking in the latest update from ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He reports that Nacua “could return as soon as next week,” but that the groin issue has “affected his explosiveness.” The key observation is this: Nacua “functionally” can play, “but he hasn’t felt like he can play with the same explosiveness that he has had in the past.” In other words, he doesn’t want to diminish his contract year by not playing with his trademark explosiveness. The team, according to Schefter, does not believe surgery will be necessary, but “it’s not completely ruled out.” It is not a delay per se. Apparently it’s a real injury, combining the desire not to make things worse and the goal to play as well as I can when I play. Here’s the bottom line: Nacua would most likely be playing if he had his second contract and the security that comes with it.
