With four days until the start of the San Francisco 49ers season, Nick Bosa has agreed to a contract extension that will make him the richest defensive player in the NFL.
San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed Wednesday that the two parties have come to an agreement and that Bosa is on his way to the team facility. Shanahan said he’s glad he can stop thinking about what his roster would look like if he were to start his season without his best defensive player.
“You try not to think about it too much because it’s not really something you can control, and you just let the process happen on its own,” he said.
“As the weekend progressed, I thought to myself that we would not play with him. If I had thought of one option and then the other, I would have been miserable. I just decided that we don’t… It’s quite a bonus to have him here. Obviously, we’re super excited. »
Shanahan claimed that in order for Bosa not to play Game 1 in Pittsburgh on Sunday, he would have to show up with a “beer belly” and be “out of shape.” “But it’s not in his DNA,” he added.
It remains to be seen how well he will be able to play after spending all of training camp training on his own.
“We’ll see when it comes,” Shanahan mentioned. “I know Nick will arrive in good shape. I know he will be good… We will be smart in these circumstances and base our decisions on the next two training sessions. »
Still, getting the deal done in time for Bosa to play this week is a big boost for a team that enters the season with championship aspirations. She no longer needs to consider the worst case scenario with Bosa.
The news broke shortly before the 49ers hit the field for practice on Wednesday. Several players found out when linebacker Fred Warner ran into the locker room shouting the news.
“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t [a cloud] because he’s such a big contributor defensively,” Trent Williams said.
“It’s not like another player is leaving. He is the defensive player of the year. Players like that, a team misses them. »
The 49ers have a long history of rewarding their big players; they have offered major contract extensions over the past three seasons to George Kittle, Warner and wide receiver Deebo Samuel. But this contract concluded with Bosa was more complicated.
ESPN was first to report the extension, saying it was $170 million for five seasons, with $122.5 million guaranteed. Average annual payout of $34 million tops previous mark of $31.7 million for Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald and guarantees exceed $102 million Bosa’s older brother Joey received from Chargers in 2020.
“I thought it would be done last week, but it didn’t,” Shanahan said. “It made me nervous, it made me move on. But we all knew Nick would be rewarded the way he was. »
Bosa earned this lucrative new contract thanks to stellar play since being drafted No. last season when he led the league with 18 1/2 sacks.
Bosa has 34 sacks in the past two seasons after completing nine as a rookie in 2019. He went sackless in two games in 2020, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury.
In the three seasons that Bosa was healthy, San Francisco ranked third in points against and second in yards allowed per game.
“I’m sure everyone knows how much easier he makes everyone’s life, not just me, being one of the most dominant defensive players in the league, running and passing,” Warner said. “He’s the most complete player. It clarifies a lot of things for me. »
