The San Francisco 49ers made defensive end Nick Bosa the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The Arizona Cardinals owned the top pick and went with quarterback Kyler Murray. Bosa figured that would happen and warned the Cardinals that they might regret passing him over.
Former Cardinals general manager Steve Keim joined The Herd this week and shared what Bosa told him ahead of the draft.
"When Kliff Kingsbury and I got together to go to see players and have dinners, we went to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and had dinner with Nick Bosa prior to the draft and loved him, obviously," Keim shared. "Our highest-graded guy on the board; amazing in every way. The only thing you had to even say was a negative was probably if he got injured in the future, which you couldn't forecast.
"So we were leaving the dinner, and we're walking out of Mastro's in Fort Lauderdale, and I'll never forget, he puts his arm around me and Kliff Kingsbury, both of us in basically a headlock, and he said, 'I think you guys are probably going to end up taking that little quarterback. And if you do … Steve, I will haunt you for the rest of your career.'"
Former Cardinals GM Steve Keim on what Nick Bosa told him during draft visit in 2019:
"I think you guys are probably going to take that little QB — and if you do — I will haunt you for the rest of your career."
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— KNBR (@KNBR) April 21, 2023
Bosa went on to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year this past season. He is undoubtably among the league's best defenders and ended up being an excellent selection for the 49ers.
Of course, Keim seemingly has few regrets about the selection of Murray over Bosa. He remembers returning to their hotel, telling Kingsbury, "God, I hope he can't catch [Murray]."
Keim added, "And he really never did, which was a good thing."
Neither Keim nor Kingsbury is still with the Cardinals.