CHARGERS WITHDRAW ‘BEST OFFER’ TO BOSA
No. 3 overall pick remains a holdout as season-opener draws near
At this rate, the San Diego Chargers might get public approval to build a new stadium before firstround draft pick Joey Bosa signs a rookie contract.
Neither appears likely to happen any time soon.
The stalemate between the Chargers and their holdout No. 3 overall selection turned far nastier on Wednesday, after Chargers management went public to argue their side.
The NFL team released a statement saying the defensive end and his agent — Brian Ayrault — rejected the team’s “best offer” on Tuesday night. The team unshockingly painted the offer in its most lucrative light, then threw out a bombshell. The offer is pulled. “(W)e will restructure our offer, since Joey will be unable to contribute for the full 16-game season without the adequate time on the practice field, in the classroom and in pre-season games,” the news release said.
Bosa, a 21-year-old who starred at Ohio State, was seen by most draftniks as the most effective edge rusher in this year’s rookie class. The Chargers’ defence aches for just such an impact player.
If you’re puzzled that an acrimonious NFL rookie holdout can even occur anymore, well, yeah. There’s little for agents of rookies and their drafting clubs to negotiate anymore. The 2011 collective bargaining agreement introduced specific, narrow, decreasing remuneration levels for all picks from Rounds 1-7.
The club contends that its latest offer to Bosa included: a signing-bonus payment larger than any NFL draft pick has received over the past two years; the promise of more money in this calendar year than every 2016 NFL draftee but No. 2 overall pick Carson Wentz will receive; the largest payment and highest percentage of signing bonus received in the first calendar year of any San Diego first-round pick since the new CBA kicked in. So why is Bosa holding out? First, know that the Chargers are notorious for hard-line negotiations with first-round draft picks. ESPN’s Jim Trotter explained two weeks ago that running back LaDainian Tomlinson held out for 30 days in 2001, cornerback Quentin Jammer for 50 days in 2002, quarterback Phil Rivers for 25 days in 2004 and linebacker Shawne Merriman for seven days in 2005.
Bosa’s holdout hit 26 days on Wednesday. That’s by far the longest holdout of any draftee since 2011, Trotter wrote.
The two sides this time aren’t haggling over bottom-line money. Rather, it’s all over the Bosa contract’s structure, according to multiple reports.
The Chargers are insisting that the contract include (1) provisions called “offsets,” which would force Bosa to pay back a portion of his guaranteed money should the Chargers cut him and he signs with another team, so he wouldn’t double-dip as it were, and (2) a partial deferment of his signing bonus to next March.
“The Bosa camp is agreeable to one or the other, but not both,” Trotter wrote.
“Every contract the Chargers have done since 2011 has included offset language and deferred money, and they’re not going to break precedent for Bosa.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday that Bosa’s signing bonus is $17 million.
What’s more, Trotter reported that of all the Nos. 2-4 overall picks in the past five drafts, only two have signed contracts that include both offsets and deferments, and both are 2016 picks: quarterback Wentz (No. 3 to Philly) and running back Ezekiel Elliott (No. 4 to Dallas).
So there’s your stalemate. An easy compromise seems impossible. One side’s gonna have to buckle, but clearly neither is prepared to do so.
Two other things to bear in mind.
First, the deadline has passed for the Chargers to be able to trade Bosa this season. It was Aug. 11. He now can sign a contract only with the Chargers up to next year’s draft, April 27-29.
Second, if Bosa does not sign by Nov. 15, he cannot play this season.
Time’s ticking as the staredown continues.
AWFUL TIMING: Not only do the Chargers not have Bosa, but they’ll have to play the first month of the season without another defensive end. The NFL suspended Damion Square without pay for the first four regularseason games for violating the league’s policy and program for substances of abuse. “I sincerely apologize to my teammates, coaches, the entire Chargers organization as well as the fans,” Square said in a statement released by the team. “I look forward to returning in Week 5 and doing whatever I can do to help the team.” The Chargers released a statement not unfamiliar in such instances: “While disappointed ... we are confident that he will learn from this and what is expected of him moving forward.” NO WENTZ: Wentz, who suffered a hairline fracture in his ribs in Philly’s Week 1 pre-season game against Tampa Bay, will travel but will not play in the Eagles’ Week 3 game Saturday at Indianapolis. Head coach Doug Pederson said the team then will practise only twice before their Week 4 pre-season finale next Thursday against the New York Jets. “We’ve got to at least get a day’s work with him in order for him to (play in that one),” Pederson said.
CRUZ ‘LOOKS GREAT’: New York Giants WR Victor Cruz “looked great” in Wednesday’s practice, offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan said. The club expects Cruz to play in his first game Saturday night (against the cross-town Jets) since October 2014 ... The Patriots later cut WR Nate Washington.