ESPN’s Ed Werder reports that the impasse between the Chargers and first-round DE Joey Bosa is due to whether offset language will be included in his rookie contract and possibly deferring some of his signing bonus.
According to Werder, all of the Chargers players with guaranteed money in their contracts have one or both.
Bosa elected to skip the Chargers’ mandatory minicamp a few weeks ago, due to a stalemate in contract talks.
Chargers GM Tom Telesco told reporters that they were “disappointed” with Bosa’s decision to not report to minicamp.
“We’re disappointed he’s not here,” said Telesco, via Chargers.com. “This is a big part of the learning process for all players, not just rookies. But there is part of a business to this too, and we understand that. It’s part of being a professional athlete. I’ll say the time he’s been here, (we’ve) been really impressed by not only his ability, but his work ethic. That’s been great. But that all being said, we’ve got to treat all of our players the same. That’s the big thing. We can’t do one thing different for one guy and the same for 89 others. These things tend to get worked out. It’s June, and we’ll just keep going.”
As of now, Bosa is the only player who was taken in the top-19 selections to be unsigned.
Sources tell Gehlken that the hang up with Bosa is in regards to offset language being included in his contract. Bosa’s camp doesn’t want any offset language included in the contract, which would result in the Chargers paying him his entire contract, even if they were to waive him at some point.
As of now, Bosa is one of 7 draft picks who have yet to sign their rookie contracts.
Bosa, 20, was taken with the No. 3 overall pick by the Chargers. It was a bit of a surprise to see them grab Bosa, considering the amount of buzz that they were going to take either take Ronnie Stanley or DeForest Buckner.
However, Bosa gives them a solid pass-rushing prospect to develop in the coming years. The expectation right now is Bosa will see plenty of snaps at defensive end in their sub packages.
According to OverTheCap.com, Bosa will sign a four-year contract worth $25,873,672 to go along with a signing bonus of $17,017,216 once they’ve reached an agreement on the contract specifics. The contract will include a fifth-year option for the team to consider in 2019.
During his three-year career at Ohio State, Bosa recorded 148 tackles, 51 tackles for a loss, 26 sacks, five forced fumbles, an interception, two fumble recoveries, and six pass defenses.
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