National Football League

49ers still waiting to sign Nick Bosa to an extension, won't consider trading him

Updated Aug. 30, 2023 10:17 p.m. ET

Nick Bosa still hasn't reported to the San Francisco 49ers as his contract holdout moves closer to the start of the season but the Niners have no plans to trade their star defensive player away.

With Bosa's holdout in its sixth week, there has been some talk that San Francisco could look for a trade if the two sides can't come to an agreement. That was a notion both coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch shot down immediately.

"I haven't talked to many people about that but I know I feel pretty strongly," Shanahan said Wednesday. "I think everyone would agree to that."

The 49ers have had a strong history of rewarding their own stars, giving big extensions the past three summers to tight end George Kittle, linebacker Fred Warner and receiver Deebo Samuel.

But getting a deal done with Bosa has proved more complicated as he is expected to get more money than those three players after proving he can consistently be one of the top defensive ends in the league when healthy since being drafted second overall in 2019.

Shanahan had said earlier this summer that he expected it to take time for a deal to get finalized but time is running short with less than two weeks before the opener at Pittsburgh on Sept. 10.

"I thought it would come probably at this time, just in the history of those things." he said. "I'm really hoping it gets done. I know they're working tirelessly at it. ... Hopefully we can get him in here sooner than later."

Bosa led the NFL with 18 1/2 sacks last season, when he was selected as the league's top defensive player, and he has 43 sacks in 51 games. He is currently under contract on the fifth-year option for $17.9 million this season.

Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald is the only defensive player with a contract worth at least $30 million a year after signing a three-year, $95 million extension last offseason. Bosa could top that with his new deal.

By holding out of camp, Bosa is subject to fines of $40,000 a day and could be fined a game check for each exhibition game he misses. But because he's still on a rookie deal, the 49ers have the option of waiving those fines, which Lynch has said the team plans to do.

The Niners and Bosa's camp have kept negotiations quiet and there has been no public acrimony from either side. Bosa typically works out away from the team during the offseason and has always come into camp in top shape.

Until Bosa signs, the Niners will be going with Drake Jackson and Clelin Ferrell as the starting edge rushers.

San Francisco placed receiver Danny Gray (shoulder) and rookie defensive end Robert Beal (hamstring) on injured reserve Wednesday and brought back Kerry Hyder Jr. and Austin Bryant to the roster for depth a day after they were cut in a procedural move.

But Shanahan doesn't like the idea of playing without Bosa.

"I can imagine anything. I don't like that picture," he said. "Everyone knows how we feel about Nick and we all know how good a player he is."

Shanahan also addressed comments from former quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who said in a recent interview that the quarterback situation in San Francisco was "weird."

Jimmy G weighs in on 49ers trading Trey Lance

The Niners drafted Trey Lance third overall in 2021 but kept Garoppolo on as the starter that first season. Garoppolo was brought back as a backup last year after a shoulder injury prevented a possible trade. He then became starter after Lance went down with a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2.

Garoppolo then got injured in December and was replaced by rookie Brock Purdy, who won his first seven starts to take the job. The Niners traded Lance to Dallas last week for a fourth-round pick.

"Anytime you trade up to the third pick in the draft and it doesn't work out, it's a weird situation," Shanahan said. "But that's the situation. That's what happened. I don't think it's that weird. It's unusual it doesn't work out. But I don't think that's weird."

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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