Nick Bosa Benefits From the 49ers Dragging out an Extension

The 49ers always drag their contract extensions with players late into the offseason, which is actually a huge benefit to Nick Bosa.

Nick Bosa is in the waiting room for a contract extension from the 49ers. His extension will make it the fourth year in a row where the 49ers have had to lock in one of their anchors on the team.

Bosa's will prove to be both the easiest and most difficult one of them all. It is easy because there is no question the 49ers should extend Bosa, but it is difficult because he is going to cost so much money because he plays a premium position. Trying to configure his contract in a way that the salary cap doesn't get gashed severely in future years is going to be tricky. This is a process that is going to take the entire offseason. The 49ers always drag their contract extensions with players entering the final year of their deals.

George Kittle, Fred Warner, and Deebo Samuel each received their extension around the start of training camp. The end of July or first couple weeks of August to give a closer estimate. Bosa is bound to follow suit as his peers in years past. Samuel was the only one who initially was impatient with it. That’s why it led to him “requesting” a trade. But Bosa most likely won’t do that, especially since he will benefit from waiting.

With free agency approaching, Bosa can use potential new deals that will be handed to pass rushers as a starting point. Free agency tends to see teams and players get expensive deals and potentially reset the market. This will only aid Bosa’s side in receiving more money from the 49ers when they negotiate his extension. However, there aren't really any big names bound for free agency, so that could prove moot. But free agency always ends up with a handful of questionable deals where a team overpaid, so you never know.

Besides free agency, there are also other pass rushers entering the final year of their contracts like Bosa. This is really where he will benefit from waiting. For instance, Brian Burns from the Panthers is a player who is definitely going to see the brinks truck pulled up into his driveway. His contract extension is one that the 49ers will have to go off of unless the Panthers are incompetent enough to not extend him. Christian Wilkins of the Dolphins is another player who will be bound for a sweet extension as well. There will be deals out there that will enhance the salary for Bosa.

So, from the 49ers' point of view, they actually should lock in Bosa as soon as possible to save some dollars before Burns' deal. Unfortunately, they have already set a precedent that they cannot deviate away from now. Dragging out a contract extension until the offseason is at its end is what they do, and it isn't something general manager John Lynch is worried about.

“I think we have a really good track record,” said general manager John Lynch on handling contract extensions. “You look at the last five years, working backwards with Deebo and before that it was Fred and Kittle and Trent and Jimmy of getting our players done, but it takes time, it takes patience, it takes persistence, and we'll have that on our side."

Bosa will and should have no issues waiting. The only concern is if he gets injured from now until training camp arrives, which I wouldn't count on. Bosa always handles himself the best in the offseason and comes into camp looking like a complete monster. By that time, he should be able to see a more lucrative extension once Burns' and other pass rushers deals are finalized.