The San Francisco 49ers are relieved to have Nick Bosa locked up to a long-term contract and back with his teammates. Last year's No. 1 ranked defense would not have been the same without the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
What did it take to get Bosa back in the building? A record-setting five-year extension worth up to $170 million with a massive $122.5 million in guarantees.
49ers icon Steve Young believes the talented pass rusher is worth it.
The Hall of Fame quarterback joined KNBR on Wednesday and shared how Bosa impacts opposing offenses two-fold.
"It's times two," Young told Tom Tolbert and Adam Copeland. "Yeah, because there's handling Nick Bosa and then all of the effort and mind [games]. From Wednesday on, everyone's talking about, 'What are we going to do? How are we going to handle it?' And so everybody's focused on it, and it just distracts, kind of laser-attention.
"And so your team is distracted, and now you got to block him. Like, there's two parts of it: distraction and blocking him. Those are the great players. Reggie White was that way. All week long, 'Okay, what are we going to do? [OL] Harris [Barton], we can slide that way.' And then you have to block him. Then you actually have to play against him.
"And so I think there's two times the distraction that he brings that I think helps the team. And then, obviously, the offense gets the ball back a lot more. Then, the quarterback can take more chances. [Head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] can say, 'Look, with Nick on the field, I can be more aggressive.' So it helps the other side of the ball as well."
Bosa is coming off an impressive 2022 campaign that saw the defensive end rack up an NFL-leading 18.5 sacks. His new deal keeps him under contract through the 2028 season.
"I'm just glad we got it worked out on everyone's side because we love Nick," Shanahan told reporters soon after learning the 49ers had come to terms on a deal with Bosa. "I think he loves being here, and he's definitely earned this, and he's going to earn it going forward, too."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Young below.