The contract dispute between the San Diego Chargers and Joey Bosa continues with no end in sight. The Chargers now believe their first-round pick will not play a full 16-game slate in 2016.
The team issued a statement Wednesday regarding negotiations:
Per the Chargers' release, the offer included:
» "An initial signing bonus payment that is larger than any player in the League has received in the last two drafts."
» "More money in this calendar year than every player in this year's draft except one (QB Carson Wentz)."
» "The largest payment and the highest percentage of signing bonus received in the first calendar year of any Chargers' first-round selection since the inception of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (2011)."
Bosa's representatives rejected the contract.
"The offer that we extended was for Joey to contribute during all 16 games and beyond," the team said. "Joey's ability to contribute for an entire rookie season has now been jeopardized by the valuable time he has missed with his coaches and his teammates. Since Joey will not report at this time, his ability to produce not just early in the season, but throughout the entire season, has been negatively impacted.
"As a result, we will restructure our offer since Joey will be unable to contribute for the full 16-game season without the adequate time on the practice field, in the classroom, and in preseason games."
Bosa's representatives sent out a statement Wednesday evening as a response that was acquired by NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport.
"It is unfortunate the San Diego Chargers have decided to manipulate facts and negotiate in the media," Bosa's reps write. "The team surely is not strengthening its relationship with Joey Bosa by taking this stance and making their position public.
"We have decided that we will not engage in public negotiations or discuss numbers and/or terms in this negotiation.
"We will say, that it is ironic that the team now takes issue with the timing of Joey's arrival, since the Chargers unilaterally decided to remain silent for the first 14 days of training camp instead of replying in a timely fashion to the proposal we made on the eve of training camp on July 28th.
"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, but our focus will remain on our client and securing a contract for him that is fair and consistent with his draft position."
NFL Media's Steve Wyche reported last month that the main issue between the club and Bosa is regarding how guarantees will be distributed. A source close to Bosa told Wyche at the time the pass rusher would like his bonuses all up front. The Chargers don't want to set a precedent in how they structure contracts.
The Chargers have increased what they are offering this year, but the sides still can't find common ground.
San Diego has a history of contract holdouts -- Philip Rivers famously didn't sign his rookie contract until deep into training camp. However, it's exceedingly rare for a team to issue a statement as forceful as the Chargers' release on Wednesday.
Now an ugly PR battle heats up as we barrel toward the start of the season. A start that doesn't currently appear will see Bosa in a Chargers uniform.
