The Chargers gave Joey Bosa exactly what he deserved
By Daniel Popper
As of 4:50 p.m. Tuesday, Joey Bosa was nowhere to be found. The Chargers’ COVID-19 testing window for veteran players, at their team hotel in Irvine, Calif., was closing in 10 minutes. It was no secret that Bosa was in search of a new contract, so his absence in that moment, with the clock ticking, seemed to speak volumes.
Two minutes later, Bosa arrived for his test at the Irvine Marriott. He spoke three words into the camera of the Chargers’ social media team: “I made it.”
He could have been speaking literally — as in, he made it to training camp. Or he could have been speaking figuratively – as in, he made it as the highest-paid non-quarterback in the history of the NFL.
Because less than two hours after Bosa reported, news broke that he had agreed to a gargantuan contract extension with the Chargers. The agreement was first reported by ESPN and was confirmed later Tuesday by the Chargers. ESPN reported that the extension is worth $135 million over five new years, including $78 million fully guaranteed at signing.
The contract has an average annual value of $27 million. That is a record for a defensive player, beating out Myles Garrett, who signed a five-year, $125 million extension with Cleveland this month. That is also important because Bosa has proven, through his production, to be at least as good a player as Garrett, if not better. He deserved at least a contract that valuable.
The money guaranteed at signing — $78 million — also is eye-opening, because it means Bosa will be receiving a sizable signing bonus, or money up front, in a time of substantial financial uncertainty, not just in the NFL but around the country and world. Still, we have to wait for the particulars of the deal to surface before we can determine how it affects future salary-cap hits and how much cash Bosa is actually receiving upon signing. For now, it appears Bosa will play the 2020 season on his fifth-year option — $14.36 million — and his extension will start in 2021.
The important thing for now is, this was a deal the Chargers absolutely had to get done. They passed on giving Melvin Gordon the contract extension he was looking for last offseason, largely with Bosa’s extension in mind. Not paying a running back is one thing. Not paying a 25-year-old player at a premium position — edge rusher — is another.
I’ve detailed the statistics over and over again this offseason to show just how good Bosa has been in his first four seasons. He is one of only 11 players since the NFL started keeping sacks as an official stat in 1982 to total 40 sacks in his first 51 games. Four of those 11 players are in the Hall of Fame. Von Miller is a fifth who will get there when he retires. Bosa is in elite company.
Perhaps more importantly to this contract, he proved himself this past season as a fully rounded player. He missed more than half the season in 2018. But he returned in 2019 to put up huge numbers — 11.5 sacks, 20 TFL, 31 QB hits — in 16 games. He was remarkable both as a pass rusher and a run defender and often was the best player on the field for either team.
Bosa, on more than one Sunday, single-handedly kept the Chargers in games.
He is worthy of this contract in every way, shape and form. The Chargers, to their credit, gave him exactly what he was looking for — and, frankly, what he’d earned based on Garrett’s market-setting deal.
In classic Tom Telesco fashion, the Chargers general manager kept this close to the vest on a Monday Zoom call with reporters. He claimed to have not heard from Bosa’s camp. Several times, he told reporters he did not want to discuss any contract negotiations. He didn’t appear like a personnel decision-maker on the verge of inking a career-defining contract.
Credit to him, really.
Telesco did provide a hint, though, when he said he felt the Chargers were “set up pretty well for 2021 no matter what happens.” That’s even with some lingering uncertainty over what the salary cap will be next season, after COVID-related lost revenues.
Telesco has the ability to finagle his cap sheet — despite the possibility of the cap ceiling dropping to $175 million next season — because of how many players are slated to come off the books after this season, including Melvin Ingram, Keenan Allen, Hunter Henry, Mike Pouncey, Tyrod Taylor and Denzel Perryman, who account for six of the nine highest cap hits in 2020, according to Over The Cap.
Telesco also has his hopeful 2021 quarterback starter, Justin Herbert, on a rookie deal, adding to the space he has to work with, even in a worst-case scenario. All that made this Bosa deal possible. At the same time, the deal will make it more difficult for the Chargers to keep all those previously mentioned free agents next season.
But that’s that nature of the NFL.
It comes down to this: The Chargers were in a position to get this deal done. They did. And now they will keep Bosa with the team for six more years.
A win for everyone involved.
theathletic.com/1959085/2020/07/28/the-chargers-gave-joey-bosa-exactly-what-he-deserved/
