Report: Nick Bosa to be highest paid defensive player in the league, deal “not a slam dunk” to be done by Week 1

We have a bit of a news tidbit to start your Sunday, which is one week before the San Francisco 49ers take the field against the Pittsburgh Steelers. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler discussed the current negotiations between pass rusher Nick Bosa and the 49ers saying that he’s going to be the highest player in the league, but his Week 1 status is still in question:

“A bit more optimism here. People I talk to believe he will be the highest defensive player in the league, above above [Aaron] Donald’s $31+ Million. if they can get this at the finish line. The 49ers would like to push this through before Week 1, but not a slam dunk. 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 such. “

None of this should be surprising given all the news we’ve heard about for weeks and months on Nick Bosa’s contract. There was the ole’ Reddit thread saying the 49ers would trade Bosa that everyone put the kibosh on rather quickly. On Friday it was reported the 49ers were trying to bridge a gap for $4 million.

It was pretty clear Nick Bosa would reset the market with his deal. Anyone thinking otherwise can realize that thinking was nonsense.

The concerning part is the fact the 49ers might not have Bosa by Week 1. They are a very different team without him starting as evidenced when Bosa has missed games in prior seasons. The hard deadline to know this would be Saturday afternoon at 4:00 PM (EST) when the 49ers would have to activate him for Sunday’s game from the reserve/did not report list.

Foot in my mouth as far as when I thought this would be done. I wrote that we could start worrying when the 49ers are in pads I still think the 49ers get the deal done, but when is the question. The clock is ticking.