When the San Francisco 49ers finally sign their first-round selection (No. 2 overall), Nick Bosa, it will be to a four-year deal worth about $33.5 million. That is how much he will earn throughout his rookie contract. There is nothing for Bosa or his agent to negotiate on that front.
All rookie contracts are for a length of four years under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the value is determined by where each player is selected. For example, No. 1 overall pick, Kyler Murray, signed a four-year deal with Arizona worth $35.16 million.
It's not yet a big deal that Bosa has not signed his rookie contract. He is one of two 49ers draft picks who have not put pen to paper. The other is second-round selection, Deebo Samuel. Bosa is one of six first-round picks who remain unsigned. That list also includes the No. 3 overall pick, Quinnen Williams of the New York Jets.
Most of the parameters of rookie deals, including salary, are set. Bosa's contract value will be fully guaranteed. So, what is taking his camp so long to green-light the contract? Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated recently wrote that if you give an agent something to fight over, he will happily oblige.
Agents can negotiate the timing of signing-bonus payments and offset language when it comes to yearly salary. For obvious reasons, players would like to have as much of the signing-bonus payments as possible in their bank accounts from the get-go. That's something NFL teams aren't always willing to do.
Then you have the offset language, which only comes into play if a player is cut loose before the end of his four-year contract. NFL teams would like any new salary from another team to offset the guaranteed money they owe. Players, obviously, would prefer it didn't.
Those are the two items Nick Bosa's older brother, Joey, held out over during his rookie offseason in 2016. Therefore, the thinking is that younger brother, Nick, might do the same. Both, after all, are represented by Creative Artists Agency (CAA). However, a lengthy training camp holdout, like Joey's, might not happen with the 49ers rookie.
The 49ers have one of the best contract negotiators in the NFL in Paraag Marathe. He is the man tasked with keeping the team's salary cap situation in check, and he does a fantastic job of it. Whenever the media announces the numbers surrounding a deal for a 49ers signing, you always have to wait to find out the details before jumping to conclusions. The initial numbers don't always tell the whole story. The deals often turn out being team-friendly ones with easy outs for the 49ers should the player not perform up to expectations.
A recent example is Kwon Alexander's four-year, $54 million contract signed in March. He is coming off an ACL injury but is now among the highest-paid linebackers in the league. The 49ers, however, have an out after the 2019 season should the signing not pan out and would absorb just a $3 million salary cap hit if they decide to part ways with Alexander.
So when will Bosa sign his rookie deal? The rookie, who sustained a low-grade hamstring strain and missed most of the 49ers' organized team activities and all of the mandatory minicamp, is focused on getting healthy for training camp, not his contract negotiations.
"I don't really deal with that," Bosa told reporters earlier this month. "I let my agent do that. I probably asked him about it once throughout this process, but I know it takes a little bit for that to happen for a lot of guys. I'm just patient, and I'll see what happens."
Don't be too concerned if you are a 49ers fan. The team didn't sign last year's rookie, tackle Mike McGlinchey, until just days before the first training camp practice. Two years ago, then-rookie defensive lineman Solomon Thomas signed his rookie deal as 49ers players were going through their first training camp practice.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan didn't sound too concerned earlier this month when asked about any potential setbacks for Bosa due to his injury, partly due to the position which he plays.
"I think there's not as many variables that go into it," Shanahan said. "You've got to beat the guy in front of you. If you don't know what you're doing, but you beat the guy in front of you every single time, you're going to be alright. There is more to that at another position."
Bosa has been described as an excellent student off the practice field, and that won't change even if he misses a little more time. The hope, of course, is that Bosa is signed and ready to go when the 49ers hit the practice field for the first time during training camp.