Rams WR Puka Nacua wants to retire by the time he's 30: 'I want to have a big family'

Puka Nacua wants to retire young.

The Los Angeles Rams wide receiver revealed on the “Join the Lobby” podcast released Monday that he hopes to call it a career by the time he’s 30.

“I’m 23 right now,” Nacua said. “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.”

Puka Nacua Explains Why He Wants To Retire by 30 👀 pic.twitter.com/hpsTilI74x
— Join The Lobby (@jointhelobbypod) March 24, 2025

While retiring early is a dream for countless Americans, calling it a career in the NFL at 30 by choice isn’t something seen very often. Former Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald was the last notable player in the league to do so. He retired after 10 seasons in the league, and is sure to be a Hall of Famer eventually. He retired at 32.

Nacua has spent two seasons in the league so far after the Rams took him in the fifth round of the 2023 draft out of BYU. He set receiving yards and receptions records as a rookie, and he racked up 990 yards and three touchdowns on 79 catches in 11 games last season. He appeared in only 11 games due to a knee injury.

Nacua has two years left in his initial four-year, $4.08 million rookie contract he signed with the Rams.

While it’s unclear what is going to happen with the rest of his playing career, Nacua is already looking to life after football. He wants to have a big family, he said, and doesn’t want any football-related injuries to stop him from enjoying time with his family in the future.

"The injuries are something you can't control [as] part of the game, so you never know," Nacua said. "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."

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