What's the holdup in the contract talks between the San Francisco 49ers and star pass rusher Nick Bosa? How far apart are the two sides? According to Albert Breer, they may be trying to bridge a gap of $4 million per year.
Bosa did not report to training camp along with his teammates on July 25 and has been holding out for a new deal over the past 39 days. The general consensus is that something will need to get done soon. The 49ers kick off their season in Pittsburgh in just nine days.
Breer doesn't foresee Bosa playing for anyone except the Niners in the foreseeable future. Head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch scoffed at questions asking if they might trade their best defender if the process doesn't progress, to which each responded, "No."
"The question is whether he's going to be the highest-paid non-quarterback of all time—he'll be the highest-paid edge rusher," Breer wrote in a recent mailbag for Sports Illustrated. "The difference between the two distinctions is less than $4 million per year, and the Niners and Bosa's people have been trying to bridge that gap for a while now."
While the 49ers remain optimistic that a deal will get done before Week 1, time is running out. That has left many wondering if the impasse will leak into the regular season. Will Bosa even be ready for the game against the Steelers if an agreement is reached at the 11th hour?
"Hopefully, we get a chance to get him into practice next week, and if he is, that'll make it a much easier decision for us," Shanahan recently said.
Breer added, "They have an artificial deadline coming (the start of the season), and at some point something almost has to get done. It's when, not if."
