Joey Bosa handled his business at Chargers Park for the past month, attending nearly every team function and improving over the course of organized team activities.
But his spring has come to a sudden, apparent end.
It’s business.
The Chargers began their three-day minicamp Tuesday morning without their No. 3 overall pick, a source said. Attendance is mandatory for all players under contract, and there is the rub. Bosa’s camp has advised him to hold out amid a stalemate in negotiations.
The former Ohio State defensive end skipped last Thursday’s final OTA practice for the same reason, sources said. His absence at the voluntary session, which was closed to reporters, gave the Chargers indication he might miss Tuesday, too.
This situation is rather unusual. Bosa is the last of the top 19 selections in April’s draft to be unsigned. All of the Chargers’ draft picks last year were signed before the team’s May rookie minicamp.
Tedious and prolonged rookie-contract negotiations became less frequent under the NFL’s 2011 collective bargaining agreement. It set a wage scale based on selection order and simplified the wiggle room of negotiations between teams and player representatives, streamlining the process in turn. What was once an elaborate dinner recipe now came pre-packaged and oven-ready, largely rendering summer holdouts a thing of the past.
Here in June, the Chargers and Bosa’s rep disagree on a couple key ingredients.
Per sources familiar with negotiations, a main hurdle relates to offset language. Bosa’s representation is pushing for there to be none. That would mean the Chargers pay him all of his four-year guaranteed contract — it will include a fifth-year team option — even if they release him sometime during it. Theoretically, Bosa thereby can double-dip and be paid full salaries from the Chargers and any new team with whom he signs. Again, all this comes into play in the unlikely event Bosa is released during the coming few years.
If there is offset language, the Chargers are off the hook for Bosa’s salary with his new team, only owing him the difference between the two.
The inclusion of offset language is fairly standard in NFL contracts, particularly those with large sums of guaranteed money. When the Chargers extended Philip Rivers last year, the deal included offset language. When it drafted offensive lineman D.J. Fluker, cornerback Jason Verrett and running back Melvin Gordon in recent first rounds, there was offset language. By and large, it can be found in any major, recent contract the team has done.
It has been steadfast about not making an exception here.
Offset language is a common battleground for teams selecting high in the draft. Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota, the No. 2 overall pick in 2015, was unsigned until a few days before training camp because of the detail. Ultimately, a compromise was reached. Of the top-five draft picks in the 2015 and 2016 drafts, six of the nine have offset language. Jaguars linebacker Dante Fowler, the No. 3 pick last year, had no offset language in his deal. First overall pick and Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston did.
The importance placed on this contract point varies from franchise to franchise.
How cashflow is dispersed in a deal can be tweaked in order to settle this dilemma. In this instance, a source said that the Chargers prefer to defer Bosa’s signing bonus — this is a regular practice; eight of the other nine top-five picks since 2015 have deferred signing bonuses rather than it all being paid up front — while Bosa’s representation prefers the money to be paid earlier. Either way, Bosa will collect the bonus in its entirety.
It may seem silly. And for Bosa, who wants to practice and continue his encouraging development, it surely is frustrating.
But the Chargers and Bosa stand apart in these finer aspects of his contract.
And so, for these final practices of the spring, they now stand apart on the field.
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