Joey Bosa, Chargers still have not reached deal
The San Diego Chargers and rookie defensive end Joey Bosa have still not agreed to a contract, the team announced Wednesday.
Bosa has not reported to training camp due to disputes over when his signing bonus will be distributed.
“Our contract discussions with offers to the representatives of Joey Bosa have been both fair and structurally consistent with the contracts of every other Chargers player,” the team said in a statement, adding that Bosa was given the team’s “best offer on Tuesday night, but it was rejected.
According to the Chargers, the team’s latest offer included an initial signing bonus payment larger than any player in the NFL had received in the last two drafts, more money for the calendar year than every player from the 2016 draft with the exception of Carson Wentz, and “the largest payment and the highest percentage of signing bonus received in the first calendar year of any Chargers’ first-round selection since the inception of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.”
“The offer that we extended was for Joey to contribute during all 16 games and beyond,” the statement continued. "Joey’s ability to contribute for an entire rookie season has now been jeopardized by the valuable time he has missed with his coaches and teammates. Since Joey will not report at this time, his ability to produce not just early in the season, but throughout the entire season, has been negatively impacted.”
The Chargers also stated that the team will now restructure any future offers due to the fact that Bosa will not play in every game this season as a result of the practice time that he has missed.
Bosa was selected No. 3 overall in this year’s draft. He remains the only unsigned player from the class.
Bosa’s representatives issued a statement to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport on the matter.
“It is unfortunate the San Diego Chargers have decided to manipulate facts and negotiate in the media. The team surely is not strengthening its relationship with Joey Bosa by taking this stance and making their position public.
“We have decided that we will not engage in public negotiations or discuss numbers and/or terms in this negotiation.
“We will say, that it is ironic that the team now takes issue with the timing of Joey’s arrival, since the Chargers unilaterally decided to remain silent for the first 14 days of training camp instead of replying in a timely fashion to the proposal we made on the eve of training camp on July 28th.
“At this point, all we can do is continue to fight for a fair contract on behalf of our client, as we do for all of our clients. The Chargers can focus on trying to sway public opinion, but our focus will remain on our client and securing a contract for him that is fair and consistent with his draft position.”
