Kaimana Nacua (born March 3, 1995) is an American football

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

of the National Football League (NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at BYU

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Nacua was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent on May 4, 2017. Throughout training camp, he competed for a roster spot against

Justin Currie Justin Robert Currie (born 11 December 1964) is a Scottish singer and songwriter best known as a founding member of the band Del Amitri. Career Del Amitri Justin Currie was born in Glasgow and established the band Del Amitri in the early 1980s ...

and Trey Caldwell. On September 3, 2017, the Browns waived Nacau and signed him to their practice squad the next day. On September 8, 2017, Nacua was promoted to the active roster. Head coach Hue Jackson named Nacua the backup strong safety behind Derrick Kindred to start the regular season. He made his professional regular season debut in the Cleveland Browns' season-opening 21-18 loss to the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. On December 3, 2017, Nacua made his first career tackle during a 19-10 loss at the Los Angeles Chargers. In Week 14, Nacua earned his first career start after Derrick Kindred suffered a wrist injury the week prior. Nacua recorded a season-high five solo tackles during the Browns' 27-21 loss to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. He finished the season with 14 combined tackles (12 solo) in 16 games and three starts. Nacua was waived by the Browns on April 30, 2018.

Baltimore Ravens

On May 1, 2018, Nacua was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Ravens. He was waived on August 31, 2018. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 15, 2018. He was released on October 15, 2018.

Carolina Panthers

On December 5, 2018, Nacua was signed to the Carolina Panthers practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Panthers on December 31, 2018. He was waived on August 4, 2019.

Indianapolis Colts

On August 19, 2019, Nacua signed with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. He was waived/injured on August 31, 2019 and was placed on injured reserve.

San Francisco 49ers

On November 24, 2020, Nacua was signed to the San Francisco 49ers practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 2, 2020. On February 11, 2021, Nacua signed a one-year contract extension with the 49ers. He was released on August 27, 2021. He re-signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on September 10, 2021.

New York Jets

On December 23, 2021, Nacua was signed by the

off the 49ers practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 25, 2021. On August 23, 2022, Nacua was released. On November 29, 2022, he was re-signed to the Jets practice squad.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Nacua has two younger brothers, Puka and Samson.

Puka Nacua Makea "Puka" Nacua (; born May 29, 2001) is an American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington and BYU. Early life and high school Nacua is of Samoan, H ...

plays wide receiver at BYU, while Samson Nacua is a member of the

Pittsburgh Maulers Pittsburgh Maulers may refer to: * Pittsburgh Maulers (1984), United States Football League team * Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) The Pittsburgh Maulers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Maulers compet ...

in the USFL. Samson also played at BYU after transferring from Utah and Puka (sophomore) transferred from Washington.

References

External links

BYU Cougars bioCleveland Browns bioBaltimore Ravens bioSan Francisco 49erss bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nacua, Kai Living people 1995 births People from Henderson, Nevada American sportspeople of Samoan descent Players of American football from Nevada Sportspeople from Las Vegas American football defensive backs BYU Cougars football players Cleveland Browns players Baltimore Ravens players Carolina Panthers players Indianapolis Colts players San Francisco 49ers players New York Jets players