49ers' Talanoa Hufanga offers concerning Nick Bosa comments

It sure sounds like the San Francisco 49ers plan to be without superstar pass-rusher Nick Bosa for the Week 1 game at the Pittsburgh Steelers this coming Sunday. 

"For us, we just got to play with who we got," 49ers safety Talanoa Hufanga told reporters on Monday afternoon, as shared by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. "We would love to have Bosa, obviously. I think that’s a no-brainer. Best defensive player in NFL, and it shows." 

Bosa is in the final year of his rookie contract and has remained away from the team throughout negotiations that seemingly aren't close to resulting in the sides coming to an agreement. 

Neither 49ers general manager John Lynch nor head coach Kyle Shanahan has hinted in recent days that a deal between the sides is imminent, and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year has given no public sign he'll play this month without receiving an extension to his liking. 

"For us, we’ve just got to prepare as if he’s not going to be here," Hufanga continued about Bosa. "Obviously, that’s an upper-echelon question; that’s a front-office question. And so, for me, I don’t know if I can answer anything else on that, but once he’s here, we’d love to have him." 

Per Rohan Chakravarthi of 49ers WebZone, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported over the weekend that "people I talk to believe (Bosa) will be the highest-paid defensive player in the league." However, Fowler added at that time that "a deal of this magnitude has a lot of nuance to it that they have to shake out with the structure and the guarantees and all that," and Fowler also said it's not "a slam dunk" Bosa will put pen to paper on an extension in time to play against the Steelers. 

As of Monday afternoon, OddsChecker listed the 49ers as the favorites (-135, -2.5) to beat the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. If Bosa doesn't play this coming weekend, his season debut potentially could occur at the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 17.