During the dreaded injury-filled 49ers season of 2018, Adam Schefter spoke with San Francisco’s front office about the team’s upcoming draft prospects.
The sentiment? They were worried they’d miss out on Nick Bosa. Eventually, the Niners landed at the No. 2 overall pick and were still sweating, but the Arizona Cardinals selected Kyler Murray with the top pick and Bosa fell into San Francisco’s lap.
The Cardinals might want a do-over. Now Murray is regarded as a mediocre quarterback while Bosa is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and awaiting a massive contract extension.
Schefter joined The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and gave his latest intel on Bosa’s ongoing holdout, which has reached its ninth day since the report day on July 25.
“I remember talking to the 49ers during the (2018) season,” Schefter said, “and they’re like, ‘This season’s not going the way we want. We stink. It’s not working out. I just wish we sucked more so we could get Nick Bosa at No. 1.' Lo and behold, Kyler Murray goes one and they get the player that they would have taken No. 1, 100 times out of 100, at No. 2.
“And they take Nick Bosa. They love Nick Bosa. They’re gonna sign Nick Bosa. My guess is Nick Bosa is gonna be the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history.”
Currently, Los Angeles Rams superstar Aaron Donald is the game’s highest-paid player on defense, with an average annual contract value of $31.7 million. Given the league’s rising salary cap, we can assume that’s the starting point for Bosa’s negotiations.
So, what’s the hold up? It seems like there’s mutual interest. According to Schefter, Bosa’s agent Brian Ayrault has a lot on his plate.
“He’s representing Nick Bosa and he’s representing Joe Burrow. Same guy,” Schefter said. “My guess is that Bosa gets done first, because he’s got the $50,000 a day fine. But here’s the deal. Let’s say it takes him 20 days – that would be $1 million in fines, right? So what is Nick Bosa’s signing bonus gonna be? It’s gonna be enormous.”
On Monday, 49ers general manager John Lynch said there were ways the team could “forgive those fines” so it seems like that’s in the plan. The Niners are known to take care of their players with sizable extensions, as Lynch often reminds reporters.
“I think the Niners wanna get it done, I think Nick Bosa wants to get it done,” Schefter said. “But I think both sides are practical and logical enough to know it’s gonna get done. He’s gonna be there. If Nick Bosa misses a week, two weeks or three weeks of camp, do you think that’s gonna slow him down in the regular season opener? I do not. He’s gonna be just fine. … The two sides will be connected here for a long time and it won’t be an issue.”
Related
