Everyone is weary of the staredown between the San Francisco 49ers and Nick Bosa's agent, Brian Ayrault. A new contract was initially expected sometime closer to the start of training camp. Yet, here we are, on day 44 of the star pass rusher's holdout, with Week 1 just days away, and fans are still waiting for an update.
Mike Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle believes one of the critical holdups on the negotiating table might be a key date the 49ers typically place into their contracts—April 1. That's when a player's money for the upcoming season becomes guaranteed.
The problem for players is that the date is a little later than they would like. It is past free agency. If the 49ers find and sign a better option, they can part ways with the player, owing him nothing.
"Basically, to dumb it down, they (the 49ers) want the ability to look around and have the wandering eye and see if they can replace you every offseason," Silver said Wednesday on KNBR. "And they have until April 1 to decide. And if they decide to replace you right up against April 1, you're missing the free agent market, if nothing else.
"So it's very team-friendly, that structure. And if I'm Nick Bosa, I have so much leverage right now that I'm trying to get every single thing I can."
Mike Silver explains how the rookie wage scale is playing into the Bosa-49ers negotiations:
"Nick Bosa has been getting ripped off for 4 years based on his production...This is his time to now get paid." pic.twitter.com/u2lBlICF6G
— KNBR (@KNBR) September 6, 2023
Understandably upset with the 49ers for not getting this deal done yet, fans are also starting to turn on Bosa and his camp, accusing the player of being greedy and not accepting a team-friendlier offer. After all, the 49ers have Super Bowl aspirations, and this stalemate is causing a distraction. Bosa not being on the football field for regular-season games will hurt the team and could cost them wins.
"There's always this presumption that the players, they should love football, they should want a team around them," Silver said in defense of Bosa's camp. "I just want everyone to sit back and realize that starting in 2011, we have a system agreed to by the union where they have a rookie wage scale. That is an artificially deflated set of circumstances in a prohibitive way for the player. So they're ripping these guys off, every single one of them, on every rookie deal. And we see with running backs, who can't get second deals, how brutal that can be.
"So Nick Bosa has been getting ripped off for four years based on his production, based on what he would have gotten as the number two pick in the pre-existing system. This is his time to now get paid. And I'm pretty sure with 100-plus million dollars guaranteed coming, he's not sweating a game check, nor should he.
"If I'm Nick Bosa, I wait and wait until I get the deal that I think I've earned, and I think it's a no-brainer."