Joey Bosa was selected as the No. 3 overall selection by the San Diego Chargers, but there's a possibility he won't play this season as the rookie is holding out in contract negotiations.
The deadline to trade Bosa, per CBA rules (H/T PFT) is Tuesday, August 9. If San Diego doesn't sign him by Week 10, he can't play in 2016. San Diego would hold his draft rights until the start of the 2017 NFL Draft. He wouldn't be able to talk to a team or attend the combine again ahead of the Draft.
Now the longest holdout since 2011, Bosa reentering the Draft would be disastrous for the Chargers. It would equate to a wasted draft pick, as under the current CBA, the Chargers would not retain a pick of equal value and would not receive a compensatory pick.
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The dispute is reportedly over offset language (which gives a team the ability to wash its hands of a player who is released instead of paying guaranteed money to the player, who would also receive money from a new team if he's signed to another contract) and his signing bonus.
According to Pro Football Talk, the Ohio State product wants either no offset language or his signing bonus up front, while the Chargers want offset language AND to defer the signing bonus.
The two sides reportedly haven't spoke in nearly a week, and there appears to be a concern that Bosa could hold out for the entire season. If he does so, the player compared by some to J.J. Watt, Jared Allen and Michael Strahan could end up back in the draft pool next summer.
The Chargers have experience taking players who have issues with San Diego, trading Eli Manning in 2004 to the New York Giants for Philip Rivers after the quarterback said he wouldn't play for the franchise.
This would certainly be a unique circumstance, and you'd imagine San Diego wouldn't be willing to risk losing a projected talented player like Bosa. We'll see if these two sides can get together.
