Quote:To me, the holdout doesn't make much sense.

 

I understand Bosa's argument that every other similarly situated pick that came before him had either offfset language or a deferred signing bonus as part of the rookie deal, but not both.  But I wonder if this holdout is the answer.

 

Suppose he digs in his heels on principle and sits out the entire year. 

 

His ENTIRE signing bonus is not only deferred for a year, but having held out and been out of football for a year, if he re-entered the draft, he would likely be picked at a lower spot than he was this year.  His entire signing bonus would not only be deferred for a year, but it would be smaller than he would get if he signed now.  Not only that, the same apprehension about rust that would cause him to fall in next year's draft would, in the eyes of teams, make them more eager to put in an offset clause because the risk of him being a bust increases.

 

Even if the subsequent team gives him the either or proposition on the deferred signing bonus or offsets that he wants now, the net effect would be him not only being subject to BOTH, but with less money short and long term for him.  Meanwhile, he becomes far more of a pariah than just about any holdout in league history, because he is essentially the first first round holdout in a CBA designed to eliminate the incentive to do so.

As it stands now, based upon what I am reading, he is about to rival Eli Manning as persona non grata in San Diego.  Just imagine if his holdout triggers more first round holdouts in the future around the league.