One concern 49ers fans should have if Nick Bosa’s holdout goes into August

There are still six first-round draft picks from the 2019 NFL Draft that have yet to sign a contract. It’s not time to panic until there’s a threat of Nick Bosa missing any games. We are a good two months or so away from that time. The delay in Bosa signing his deal is the offset language. That’s the only negotiable part. The length of his contract is set in stone, as is the total amount. The CBA leaves nothing to negotiate when talking about salary.

It’s probably annoying for 49ers fans, but I’ll always side with the players. Organizations have no problem shipping you off, releasing you, or anything that could be detrimental to the player in a heartbeat. Take care of yourself when it comes to your finances. Just like the rest of us would in our lives.

In his Thursday morning column for the MMQB, Albert Breer showed his respect for Bosa:

“Because the slotting system is based entirely on math, so there are certain things regarding the language of the contract—like cash flow and offsets—that are negotiable. And that’s precisely why these things become a big deal. Give teams and agents something to fight over, and they’ll fight.

”The team will claim it has to hold to all of its precedents in these contracts, hence pushing hard against offsets. Agents need to win in these situations because if they don’t it’s used against them in recruiting. And in the great majority of cases, they don’t really wind up affecting the player much—he has to be a massive bust (cut in his first three years) for those offsets to come into play.

”That said, I do respect Bosa, one of two unsigned 49ers draft picks, for holding the line as a rookie. (Bosa’s brother, Joey, also had extended negotiations with the Chargers as a rookie in 2016; he ended up signing in late August.) Not enough players do in contract negotiations in general.”

For now, we wait. There’s not much else we can do, but it’ll be interesting to see if this drags on throughout training camp. Joey Bosa ended up missing the first four games during his rookie year after signing right before the regular season. He reaggravated an injury. That would be the primary concern with Nick. When you can’t practice, it’s impossible to simulate the everyday football movements and conditioning. That should be the main worry if Bosa’s holdout does go into August.