Rams’ $170M Extension For Puka Nacua On Hold After He Bit A Woman And Screamed A Slur

Pick 177. Fifth round. A kid from Orem, Utah, whose dad died just before he turned 12. He walks into a starting job nobody handed him and rewrites the NFL rookie record books in his first season. In 2025, he led the entire league in receptions, earned First Team All-Pro, and carried the Rams to the NFC Championship. Sean McVay calls him mentally and physically the toughest player he’s ever coached. Rams fans call him theirs. This offseason, he was supposed to get paid. He’s got a court date instead.

What He Does to a Football Field

You want to know who this kid is? Watch the December 18 game against Seattle. The week has been a five-alarm fire, an antisemitic gesture on a livestream, a public apology, a $25,000 NFL fine, and a coach blindsided at a press conference. Nacua walks onto that field in Seattle anyway, runs his routes, and puts up 12 catches, 225 yards, and two touchdowns, joining Isaac Bruce as the only players in Rams franchise history to record 160-plus receiving yards in three straight games. The Rams lose 38-37 in overtime on a defensive collapse that had nothing to do with him. McVay walks out of that locker room and tells reporters, “Did you think his play showed that he was distracted? I didn’t think so either. He went off today.” That’s Puka Nacua. Between the lines, there is nobody better.

The Man Behind the Records

His father, Lionel, trained all his children in the backyard from the time they could run routes — Puka called him a “master planner,” someone who “could see everything happening before it does.” Lionel died from diabetes complications just before Puka turned 12, leaving his mother, Penina, to raise six children alone. She did it. Every one of them got to chase the dream Lionel built. Kai reached the NFL. Samson followed him into professional football. Puka honored both his parents on his cleats in his rookie season — the Diabetes Foundation for his father and Single Moms Planet for his mother — and said, “I’m eternally grateful for everything she’s done for me and helping me get to where I am.” Rams fans fell in love with that story. The fifth-rounder who outworked everyone, who played for his dead father every Sunday, who cried in the tunnel before games. That story is still true. What happened after December 16 is what’s tearing at it.

The Night He Walked Into a Trap — Or Built One Himself

December 16, 2025. Two days before a critical division game. Nacua decides to spend the evening with Adin Ross and N3on, two of the most reliably combustible people on the internet. He tries to bring them into the Rams facility. They’re turned away at the door. He joins them outside and keeps rolling. On the livestream, Ross, who is Jewish, suggests a hand-rubbing gesture, calls it a “Jewish emote,” and asks Nacua to do it as a touchdown celebration. Nacua performs it. When Ross asks if he’ll actually do it in a game, Nacua says, “I promise. I got you, man.” He also goes after NFL officials on camera, calling them “the worst” and accusing them of making calls for TV time. McVay learns about the facility attempt from a reporter during his press conference. Not from Nacua. From a reporter. That detail alone tells you something.

He Apologized. Then Thirteen Days Later, This

Nacua posted his apology on December 18. “At the time, I had no idea this act was antisemitic in nature and perpetuated harmful stereotypes against Jewish people. I deeply apologize to anyone who was offended by my actions, as I do not stand for any form of racism, bigotry, or hate of another group of people.” McVay backed him publicly: “I know this guy’s heart. I love him,” Nacua told reporters McVay “was disappointed in some of the actions that are just distracting my teammates,” but had made clear he was “always in continuous support.” McVay’s reputation was now wrapped around Nacua’s character. He put it there willingly. Thirteen days after that apology, on New Year’s Eve in Century City, a woman named Madison Atiabi alleges Nacua said [censored]all the Jews” at dinner. Then the night got worse.

What Happened in That Sprinter Van

After dinner, the group climbed into a Sprinter van. According to Atiabi’s lawsuit, Nacua dropped his head into her friend’s lap and bit her thumb so hard she screamed in acute pain. Then he turned and bit Atiabi’s left shoulder — with enough force to break skin and leave a complete circular impression of his teeth. She photographed the mark. The next morning — New Year’s Day — she filed a police report. Three months later, she filed a civil lawsuit citing assault, battery, gender violence, and negligence. A Los Angeles judge denied her request for a temporary restraining order. The April 14 hearing is still on the books. One photograph. One court date. One receiver who was supposed to be signing the richest contract of his life.

The Defense Swings Back Hard

Nacua’s attorney, Levi McCathern, didn’t come to play defense; he came to attack. He called the incident “horseplay.” He said the bite left “nothing more than a temporary mark.” He said multiple sober witnesses at that dinner heard zero antisemitic comments. Then he dropped the counter-punch: his office was approached with demands of “millions of dollars” in exchange for keeping the allegations quiet, what he called “blackmail.” He says he has video of Atiabi partying with Nacua after the alleged incidents occurred. Nacua’s team will file a defamation lawsuit against her. The woman’s filing also alleges that during a March 2026 mediation, Nacua’s legal team threatened to “contact TMZ and other press and media outlets” to spread damaging stories about her. Both sides are dug in. April 14 is where this lands.

What McVay Is Staring At Right Now

McVay built this offense around Puka Nacua. Davante Adams spent 2025 mentoring him at OTAs, working routes before and after practice. Cooper Kupp helped shape his game, too. Nacua said of Adams: “He’s made me become a better player, a better person, someone that I look up to.” A kid who lost his father just before he turned 12 found something like that again inside a Rams facility, and turned it into the best receiving season in the NFC. Now the coach who vouched hardest for this kid’s character on the record, on camera, repeatedly, has to decide whether to hand him north of $170 million while a courthouse in Los Angeles figures out what happened in that van. That’s not a football decision anymore. That’s a character verdict.

The Number on the Whiteboard

Seattle handed Jaxon Smith-Njigba four years and $168.6 million, $42.15 million per year – the richest receiver deal in NFL history. Nacua caught more passes than Smith-Njigba in 2025, and analysts project his deal starting at $42.3 million per year, with a total range of $170 million to $180 million. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport had already reported extending Nacua was “a big-time priority” for Los Angeles. But the Rams are cap-squeezed everywhere — Byron Young and Kobie Turner in final contract years, Braden Fiske and Jared Verse approaching eligibility, and Trent McDuffie just signed to the richest cornerback deal in NFL history. Mike Garafolo said the extension was already sliding “further into the summer” before any of this broke. The lawsuit didn’t create the delay. It just made sure nobody in that front office is rushing toward a pen.

One Version Catches 129 Balls. The Other Has a Court Date

Penina Nacua raised six children alone after her husband died. She made sure every one of them got to pursue the dream Lionel built in that backyard. Puka honored her on his cleats, cried for his father in the tunnel before games, and became the kind of player that makes a city fall in love with a franchise. The 129 catches are real. The All-Pro is real. The 225-yard game is real. The bite mark photograph is also real. The Rams are spending this offseason finding out which version of Puka Nacua costs more.

Sources:
Woman files restraining order against Puka Nacua after alleged biting, antisemitic remarks — TMZ, March 24, 2026
Rams’ Puka Nacua sued over alleged antisemitic remark, bite — ESPN, March 25, 2026
Puka Nacua’s attorney denies woman’s claim, downplays bite — Yahoo Sports, March 24, 2026
Rams WR Puka Nacua apologizes after making antisemitic gesture on livestream — NFL.com, December 18, 2025
NFL fines Rams WR Puka Nacua $25,000 for comments criticizing officiating — NFL.com, December 19, 2025
Puka Nacua’s contract extension is expected to ‘take a while’ — Rams Wire/USA Today, March 22, 2026