San Francisco 49ers

Sad to even think we might not keep him

That's not even remotely on the table. Don't overreact to a gigantic contract negotiation dragging into the summer. It happens pretty much every single year.

Especially for a locked-in veteran player (and one that's had health issues before) like Bosa, there's no burning need to get him onto the practice field immediately. He can sign in late August and it would be fine.

It would be one thing if Bosa was expressing dissatisfaction with negotiations. He hasn't been.

There are real holdouts, and then there are, "negotiations are going fine, but I'm not risking injury on the practice field until the deal is signed" holdouts.

Pay him. Pay that man his money.

Just to throw one more comment into this thread - if anyone's wondering why a player like Bosa would sit out camp practices even if they expect to sign, take one look at what just happened to Joe Burrow. He suffered a calf or ankle injury and couldn't put weight on the leg and had to be carted off the practice field.

Burrow is supposed to sign that big new blockbuster deal any day now, but it hasn't happened yet, and he's chosen to still practice in the meantime.

It seems likely that Burrow avoided the worst case injury, but imagine if it was a ruptured Achilles rather than (the more likely) strain. A season-ending injury really tanks your negotiating position.

There's a good reason some players won't risk the practice field when their life-changing deal hasn't quite been finalized yet. It's a big risk to do otherwise, and even a guy wearing the red no-contact jersey can end up with a serious injury.

Can the 49ers even afford Bosa without trading players?