There’s some unexpected news circling Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua, and NFL analyst Stephen A. Smith dropped his take. The superstar is involved in an off-field controversy stemming from a civil lawsuit, and the situation could affect his future with the Rams.
What did Smith have to say?
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Nacua recently started undergoing rehab to better his behavior before a woman filed a civil suit alleging antisemitism by the player and that he bit her and another person during a New Year’s Eve incident. While his camp denies the antisemitism and calls the biting “horseplay,” the Rams star’s future is still in question.
Smith weighed in on how the controversy impacts Nacua.
“At the end of the day, here’s the deal, and this is what people need to understand, particularly professional athletes, there are moral clauses in everything,” he said on “First Take.” “When you do things that are detrimental to the brand that you are supposed to represent, there are ways for people to get out of commitments that they’ve made to you if you are in violation of those moral clauses.”
.@stephenasmith speaks on the recent news of Puka Nacua. pic.twitter.com/HKidtIo9I7
— First Take (@FirstTake) April 2, 2026
With cultural and racial tensions in the U.S. continuously growing, sports teams are more inclined to protect themselves from public backlash via contractual stipulations. Compared to the past, teams are far more likely today to take disciplinary steps against their players to protect their reputations.
“And more and more, when you see instances coming down the pike, you are going to see teams adding clauses and stipulations in the contracts just to make sure they protect themselves,” Smith added. “Nacua’s an all-world receiver, but when you see Jaxson Smith-Njigba and the money he just got, you know Nacua’s gonna want something in that ballpark.”
Nacua will be playing in a contract year in 2026, and his chances of getting re-signed by the Rams might not only be determined by his performance, given the recent controversy.
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“You can’t deny that he deserves the money as a football player,” Smith said. “But what you can say is that ‘your behavior is jeopardizing your availability, because if we don’t step in, who’s to say that the NFL won’t?'”
Rams head coach Sean McVay reportedly had a “talk” with Nacua to lay out his future prospects following the lawsuit. If LA ends up parting ways with the superstar receiver (98.2 PFSN WR Impact) after 2026, it could spell trouble for the team. Quarterback Matthew Stafford, at 38, might not play beyond this upcoming season, leaving the front office with some massive holes to plug in 2027.
