WHAT?
It's the San Diego Chargers lucky day. Their first-round, #3 overall, draft pick Joey Bosa signed his rookie contract, and with one whole week left to go in preseason.
WHAT ELSE?
This stalemate between the Chargers and Bosa circled around two key points:
1.) Like every top-three pick over the past five years, Bosa wants to be paid a huge sum of his signing bonus before the end of his rookie year, but the Chargers want to wait until March 2017 - a difference of only a few months.
2.) All first-round rookies are required to have four-year contracts with a fifth-year team option. The Chargers are insisting that Bosa's contract also include Offset language, which basically means if the team decides to cut him after his third season and another team picks him up, that new team is responsible for paying Bosa's league-mandated fourth year.
Bosa said he would agree to one, but not both of the Chargers demands, but the Chargers, being the notorious cheapskates they are, stood firm knowing they held the upper hand. If Bosa didn't sign, he would sit out this entire season and have to re-enter next year's draft where he'd get picked lower than third overall and make less money than if he were to just have signed with the Chargers.
The agreed-upon contract is what the Chargers are going to call a comprise so that they don't look like giant asshats. They are giving Bosa more money in years two, three, and four, plus the largest upfront signing bonus in Chargers history.
THOUGHTS?
This entire fiasco was a public nightmare for both parties involved (Team Bosa vs. Team Chargers). After their 4-12 season, the Chargers should stop digging their heels in the dirt over rookie contracts, and start focusing on winning. In the end, the Chargers star draft pick missed out on key learning time because of contract clauses. Hope it was worth it.
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