Aaron Donald's Contract Sets the Floor for 49ers to Extend Nick Bosa
Aaron Donald was cashed out by the Rams on Monday.
His newly boosted contract with the Rams now makes him the highest paid player who isn't a quarterback. Donald gets $65 million over the next two seasons and $95 million through 2024. All of that puts Donald at $31.6 million per year, which puts him at the top of APY (annual per year) for all defensive linemen.
Donald's contract sets the floor for the 49ers in an extension with Nick Bosa. Now, an extension likely isn't going to occur for Bosa until next season. He will surely wave off the 49ers this year with the hopes of increasing his value. It benefits him to add another season of dominance along with other players, such as Donald, continuing to reset the market so that Bosa can really see a lucrative deal.
The floor to extend Bosa can increase in the future, but right now it is clear what the price point is going to be for Bosa. While he isn't better than Donald, Bosa is surely going to demand more APY than Donald. Or at least, he shouldn't listen to any offers from the 49ers until they give him a number that exceeds Donald's. Bosa will be entitled to that demand as he has constantly demonstrated to be a high-level impact player. Outside of his 2020 injury plagued year, Bosa has been a force to be reckoned with.
On top of that, he is much younger than Donald so that can be another arguing point as to why he is deserving of a deal that surpasses Donald's. And if Bosa proves to be great again in 2022, then there should be no question what the 49ers should do. They need to give Bosa that right of being the highest paid defensive lineman and most likely non-quarterback.
It will be interesting to see if the 49ers draw a line in the sand.
They are clearly doing so right now with Deebo Samuel and getting a deal done with him. Otherwise, if they really were going to cash Samuel out, then he would have signed by now. The 49ers always have a number in mind and aren't usually comfortable with crossing it just based on the market.
But Bosa is worth that splurge. As ridiculous as it could be perceived to give Bosa a deal that exceeds Donald's, that value is only going to get cheaper as the years go by, especially with other prominent defensive linemen getting new deals.
The 49ers have a clear floor for the numbers to get Bosa extended. If they're smart, they will do all they can to see if Bosa can sign an extension now before his stock only skyrockets. This is where the real tug-o-war will kick in.
