As if the Wednesday statement released by the San Diego Chargers wasn't emphatic enough, president of football operations John Spanos followed up by unloading on the representatives for No. 3 overall draft pick Joey Bosa.
Spanos pulled the Chargers' latest offer after failing to reach agreement on a deal that would pay Bosa 85 percent of his $17 million signing bonus during this calendar year. That offer was up from San Diego's starting point of 60 percent.
"I'm blown away," Spanos told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "At all costs I wanted to avoid going down this road. They made it overly clear we had no other option."
Now that the Chargers are resigned to the contract impasse's deleterious effect on Bosa's rookie season, Spanos is pulling no punches.
"It's absolutely asinine," Spanos said. "He would have gotten more cash in this calendar year than anyone except Carson Wentz."
NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport got a hold of a statement from the rookie's representatives Wednesday night, which countered Spanos by saying, "At this point, all we can do is continue to fight for a fair contract on behalf of our client, as we do for all of our clients. The Chargers can focus on trying to sway public opinion..."
Bosa's holdout is easily the longest and most contentious since the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement slotted rookie contracts and all but eliminated prolonged standoffs.
While every other organization and every other player representative has worked past the issues of offset language and signing bonus allocation, the Chargers and Bosa camp have become entrenched.
It's fair to ask both sides if the hardline stance is worth it.
