When 49ers G.M. John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan addressed reporters on Tuesday, it wasn’t clear whether defensive end Nick Bosa was holding out or holding in.
Bosa, we’re told, is indeed holding out. He’s not with the team as he waits for the second contract that he frankly should have gotten a year ago.
At one point during the press conference, Shanahan said this regarding Bosa: “I think it’s different in his situation because he doesn’t, I forget what the fifth-year option or whatever, he’s not getting fined $50,000 a day. So, he’s not in that same situation.”
Under the CBA, a player under his fifth-year option like Bosa is subject to a daily fine of $40,000 per day. Plus, he can be fined a regular-season game check for each preseason game missed during the holdout.
But here’s the difference. The 49ers can waive Bosa’s fines, since he’s operating under his rookie deal. (If Bosa were holding out under his second contract — like Chris Jones in Kansas City — the fines would not be waivable.)
There seems to be no enhanced acrimony in Bosa’s situation. He deserves to be given a massive contract. He’s one year overdue to get it. If the 49ers don’t want to give it to him, they need to trade him to a team that will.
And plenty would.
