San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa is one of the NFL Top 100 players in 2023. In a matter of weeks, he could become one of the highest-paid NFL players ever.
Bosa, the second pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, has been one of the best defensive players in the league since he made his debut. After earning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2019, Bosa took home Defensive Player of the Year this past season.
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- Nick Bosa stats (2022): 48 quarterback hits, 19 tackles for loss, 18.5 sacks in 16 games
The 6-foot-4 edge rusher is poised to hit the open market in 2024. While San Francisco could prevent that from happening by using the exclusive franchise tag, it appears the tag won’t even come into play.
According to Matt Barrows of The Athletic, San Francisco is aiming to have an extension done with Bosa by late July and the contract is expected to make him the highest-paid defensive player in the league.
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- Nick Bosa contract: $17.859 million salary in 2023
Bosa has received three Pro Bowl selections in four seasons, with the lone exclusion coming in 2020. He tore his ACL in the second week of the 2020 campaign, but returned the following year and recorded a league-high 21 tackles for loss with 15.5 sacks
Entering the 2023 season, Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald is the highest-paid defensive player in the league with a $31.66 million average annual salary. Right behind him is Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt ($28 million) and Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa ($27 million).
San Francisco likely expects any deal it makes with Bosa to start at a $30 million AAV and he could surpass Donald based on the skyrocketing NFL salary cap. While extending Bosa will eat into the 49ers’ cap space, it is less of an issue for a team that relies on starting quarterbacks who play on rookie-scale contracts.
