Nick Bosa’s prolonged holdout is over.
The reigning AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year has agreed to a five-year, $170 million extension with the 49ers, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday. Rapoport added that the contract includes $122.5 million in guarantees and San Francisco will waive all fines Bosa incurred during his holdout.
Bosa is now the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history with an average per year salary of $34 million, besting Aaron Donald’s $31.7 million with the Rams.
Bosa sat out of all of training camp and the preseason, remaining away from the club while awaiting an extension after a career-best 2022 season. In order to protect his greatest asset — his health — he trained on his own while contract talks progressed, but they took longer than most would expect, including his coach.
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Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan admitted on Aug. 30 he thought Bosa would be back with the team by the end of the preseason, but it took until a few days prior to San Francisco’s regular-season opener against the Steelers for the two sides to finally strike an agreement.
Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday that he is not sure how much Bosa will be able to play during Sunday’s game.
“We’ll be smart with it and it’ll be based on the next 2 1/2 practices,” Shanahan said.
But Shanahan left no doubt that Bosa will suit up Week 1, joking that Bosa would “have to have a beer belly and be out of shape” to miss the opener, per NBC Sports Bay Area.
Based on Bosa’s production in the last two seasons, the record contract is money well spent. After suffering an ACL tear in Week 2 of the 2020 season, Bosa has been on an absolute tear on the field, racking up 34 sacks, 40 tackles for loss and six forced fumbles over the last two years. He earned his first All-Pro selection to go along with his DPOY honor in 2022, setting up for an important period in which Bosa could capitalize on his rise.
San Francisco doesn’t tend to pay everyone important to stick around, but Bosa was never a question for this team. The 49ers have relied significantly on their defense during their run of success under Shanahan and general manager John Lynch, and Bosa is their best defender. The only remaining question concerned when they might get a deal done.
We finally have an answer. Now, Bosa has to get ready to hit the field for the 49ers in a short amount of time.
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