Written by Louis Bien at SB Nation.com
The Chargers did something stunning Wednesday, releasing the details of their contract negotiation with rookie defensive end Joey Bosa, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, and potentially snapping what had already been a fray-thin relationship.
Two things:
- Teams almost never release the nitty-gritty of negotiations, instead trying to at least maintain the appearance that they’re taking the high road. “No comment” isn’t usually a sign that things are progressing well, but appearances are important.
- The Chargers — maybe out of desperation, stupidity or shortsightedness — did not do that.
Their statement about the Bosa situation reads like an attempt to reverse the momentum of public opinion back in their favor. Instead, the Chargers may have accelerated it against themselves.
Let’s recap what Bosa wants, and what the Chargers say they offered.
Bosa wants one of two things, and both are reasonable
In fact, what Bosa is asking for have been boilerplate concessions by NFL teams under the new collective bargaining agreement. First, he wants his money sooner. Not more money, mind you, just more of his guaranteed signing bonus paid within the calendar year instead of having a large portion of it deferred to next March. Second, he does not want his contract to include offset language. SB Nation’s recap of the situation can explain that:
All contracts for rookies selected in the first round of the NFL draft under the current CBA cover four years with a choice for teams to pick up the fifth-year option, extending the rookie contract one season. Teams want offset language included in case they decide to cut a player in his fourth season. Without offset language, the player is entitled to all of the money his original team was supposed to pay in his fourth season, and he can sign a new contract with another team and also earn all of that money.
Every top-5 NFL draft pick since 2012 except two — Jameis Winston, the No. 1 overall pick in 2015*, and Ezekiel Elliott, the No. 4 pick in this year’s draft — has received at least one of those two concessions**. The Chargers have refused, saying that they would be breaking precedent by giving in. And there is a precedent: The Chargers have never offered to exclude offset language from a rookie contract.
* Technically, No. 2 overall pick Carson Wentz is another because he’s receiving the last million of his $17 million signing bonus in January, but that’s not much of a deferment and it’s reportedly for tax purposes.
The problem is, they’re also dealing with an unprecedented situation. The Chargers have never had a top-10 pick under the new CBA — not since 2004, in fact, when they drafted Eli Manning and swapped him for Philip Rivers. By league precedent, they are very much in the wrong.
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