Could San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa miss the regular-season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers? It's certainly starting to look possible. On Friday, general manager John Lynch was asked if he believed a deal would be done before Week 1.
"Yeah, I do," Lynch responded. "And we got a lot of work to do, and we'll continue to do that. He's a great player. We want them here. We need them here."
Week 1 quickly approaches, and no one is sure if the Niners are any closer to signing the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year to a long-term contract. One NFL insider doesn't believe anything is imminent.
"They're not there yet, and I don't get the sense they're close at all, so I don't get the sense anything is imminent," Ian Rapoport said on the "Pat McAfee Show" Monday morning. "But at least it sounds like there's been some level of conversation, I guess, which is as there should be. It's like there's been at least some touching base.
"They are not there yet. And I know this probably doesn't make anyone feel better, but there still is a lot of time. I mean, Bosa, I'm sure, keeps himself in unbelievable shape. I don't think he's going to need a lot of an acclimation period. So even if he shows up five days from now, I'm sure he'll be ready for the season."
"I don't get the sense that anything is imminent with Nick Bosa and the 49ers..
The 49ers offer is substantial and I'm confident that the deal will make him the highest paid edge rusher in the NFL" @RapSheet #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/X4gjZ9rffW
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 28, 2023
No one is sure what the holdup is. Bosa did not report to training camp with his teammates on July 25 and has been staying away since. Both sides are remaining quiet regarding the negotiation process. Most expected a deal to be finalized in the early days of training camp, at the latest. Now, here we are, 13 days until the 49ers face the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.
"He's going to make a lot of money," Rapoport adds. "I feel very confident that if he signs a deal, he's going to be the highest-paid edge rusher in the NFL. I feel very confident in that. And he should be. It's just, how high does he get? Does he get Aaron Donald [money]? Does he get the highest-paid non QB? What does he get? And I think that's more of the question than, Are the 49ers going to pay him?
"Their offer is substantial, and there's been, I know, kind of back and forth. [He's] going to make a lot of money. It's really just a question of how [much], and when Nick Bose and his agent go, 'All right, this is proper.'"