The Los Angeles Rams are in the process of re-tooling their wide receiver room. They plan to trade Cooper Kupp if not outright release him, and they signed Davante Adams to replace him. That leaves Puka Nacua as the Rams’ unquestioned top incumbent option.
However, Nacua is a team player and is making a notable concession for his new, highly-accomplished teammate, Adams. Adams signed a two-year, $46 million contract.
The Rams announced that Nacua is switching to No. 12, freeing No. 17 for Adams.
“Carrying on the Nacua legacy! The #12 not only represents me on the football field, but all of my brothers and the sacrifices that my family have made before me to be able to wear this jersey at this moment. I know when I put on that #12, it’s a piece of armor that’s representing my family and always protecting me,” Nacua posted on Instagram on March 11.
“For all the 17s out there, I appreciate your support and have things in the works to show you all love!”
Nacua wore No. 15 during his time with Washington, switching to No. 12 before he transferred to BYU in 2021 and continued sporting the latter. Nacua recently revealed he initially asked the Rams for No. 12 as a rookie.
“We had Van Jefferson on the team, and I didn’t know he was 12. So they’re like, ‘No.’ They’re like, ‘We can give you 17,’ and I was like, ‘All right. Sweet,’” Nacua told Detroit Lions star Amon-Ra St. Brown and his brother, Equanimeous, on the “St. Brown Podcast” on March 11. “I feel like I was such a casual football fan. I was like, ‘Bro, who was No. 17?’
“Then, all the tape I’m watching is of Robert Woods, and I was like, ‘Man, I know who this guy is, bro. It didn’t register in my head when they were offering it to me.”
He joins an extended list of Rams players to don the digits.
Puka Nacua Joins Legendary Rams
GettyPuka Nacua #17 of the Los Angeles Rams looks on during a game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Nacua is the 27th Rams player to wear No. 12, joining Jefferson, a Super Bowl champion who wore it from 2020 through 2023 and is the last to do so, per Pro Football Reference. Nacua is also the sixth straight wide receiver to wear it.
He joins Jefferson, Brandin Cooks, Sammy Watkins, Stedman Bailey, and Steve Smith.
Before that, it was a quarterback’s number for the organization, with 15 in a row wearing it. The most notable among them is Hall of Famer Joe Namath.
Namath only wore it for one season, 1977, his final in the NFL. He spent the bulk of his 13-year career with the New York Jets. The list is rife with Pro Bowlers and champions, including Nacua, the club’s newest member.
@jeffpearlmanauthor The depressing (yet necessary) NFL farewell of Joe Namath on the 1977 Los Angeles Rams #losangelesrams #rams #larams #joenamath #aaronrodgers #nyjets #newyorkjetsfan #newyorkjets #pathaden #nfl #writersoftiktok
Running back Les Horvath was the last non-QB or receiver to wear the number for the Rams.
He wore it for the 1947 and 1948 seasons; 22 years before the AFL-NFL merger. The list of players before Horvath played in an even more different era, including their positions.
Puka Nacua Did Not Want to Sell Jersey Number to Davante Adams
GettyDavante Adams #17 of the New York Jets looks on against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Nacua’s change notably comes just hours after comments suggesting he would at least drive a hard bargain if Adams – a nine-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro – wanted his familiar number.
St. Brown even asked about Adams making a hypothetical $2 million offer.
“No, I can’t do that. He got Taco Bell [endorsements], bro. He got Taco Bell, he Jordan [Brand],” Nacua told St. Brown. “I’m gonna make sure I text the Jordan guys, ‘Yo, whatever he got, I got to get the one that’s just slightly better than that. Whatever shoes he’s asking for, whatever – I’m like whatever the gloves coming out, bro. I’m gonna need to slide those.
“$2 mil? I don’t know. I don’t think that’s –He’s just getting $26 [million guaranteed]. He already got paid by the Jets too.”
“I don’t think I’d do it for $2 mil,” Nacua told St. Brown. “That is a lot. I ain’t counting nobody’s pockets. But I mean, this ain’t Davante Year 5 getting traded to the Los Angeles Rams.
“I’m making me sound like I got crazy money. I ain’t got crazy money. $2 mil could do me a lot. I could buy a whole lot of land in Utah with that type of money; I can buy me a nice house over there.”
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