As has been the case on several occasions in recent years, the 49ers have a major extension to attend to this offseason.
Nick Bosa remains eligible for a new deal, one which has the chance to be historic for defensive players in its size.
The 2019 second overall pick is set to earn just under $17.9M in 2023 on the fifth-year option, but that figure will comfortably be eclipsed on his second contract.
Coming off a campaign in which he led the league in sacks, the Defensive Player of the Year could become the NFL’s top paid defender with an extension. That should be expected to be finalized this offseason, though a firm timeline is not currently in place.
“He’s training. He’s doing what Nick Bosa does,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said at the annual league meetings, “and we’re going to address his contract at some point. I know that it will take persistence, it will take patience, all the things I said before” (h/t Rohan Chakravarthi of 49erswebzone.com).
Last offseason, Lynch made it clear that multi-year deals for both Bosa and wideout Deebo Samuel had been budgeted for. In the latter’s case, contract talks broke down to the point that Samuel requested a trade, something the team never gave serious consideration to.
In the end, the sides agreed on a three-year, $71.5M deal in the summer to keep him in the Bay Area as a key part of the team’s nucleus.
A Bosa extension will likely be notably more lucrative. The 25-year-old has racked up 43 sacks in 51 career games, adding eight forced fumbles and 56 tackles for loss in that span.
Rebounding from his injury-shortened 2020 campaign, the three-time Pro Bowler has remained healthy for the past two seasons, helping the 49ers enjoy consecutive trips to the NFC title game.
“He’s a really good player who’s going to get everything that he’s earned and deserves, and I do like our track record of getting [extensions] done,” Lynch said, adding on the subject of a potential timeline that, “they don’t come as quick as you’d like sometimes … And this one, I don’t know where that would be. I don’t think that has to be the case, but we’ll see where it goes.”
The NFL’s highest-paid edge rusher is Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, who averages $28M per year on his current deal. Amongst all defensive players, that figure trails only Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald ($31.6M).
Bosa could command a deal outpacing each of those players given his age and production, and a turbulent negotiating period certainly wouldn’t be unprecedented for the 49ers. Given Lynch’s remarks, though, a monster deal coming together in the near future would come as little surprise.
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