[Mick]

The Bosa situation is all about who wants what more.

Do the Niners want Bosa to play against Pittsburgh more than Bosa wants to play and help his team win the game?

If I were the Niners, I would tell Nick Bosa if he doesn't sign by Tuesday (so he can practice Wednesday), this is our best offer, and it will start going down after this. And it should because rumors are he will eclipse Aaron Donald's AAV.  So let's say the Niners are willing to go $32M per season. That's $1.88M per game. So tell him, for each Tuesday you aren't signed, we deduct $1.88M from our offer.

If he doesn't report to play this season, he doesn't get a year of service, and he still has to play a year to earn free agency.
Bosa could counter by saying he will report by the day he must to play enough games that earn him free agency because he can't be franchise tagged. What would Bosa earn on the open market? It's certainly an interesting question, and the Niners could just wait to sign him as a free agent too.

I'm confused by that statement. Are you saying free agents can't be franchise tagged? I thought that was the whole purpose of franchise tagging...preventing the single free agent that's most important to the team from leaving.

[Mick]

The Bosa situation is all about who wants what more.

Do the Niners want Bosa to play against Pittsburgh more than Bosa wants to play and help his team win the game?

If I were the Niners, I would tell Nick Bosa if he doesn't sign by Tuesday (so he can practice Wednesday), this is our best offer, and it will start going down after this. And it should because rumors are he will eclipse Aaron Donald's AAV.  So let's say the Niners are willing to go $32M per season. That's $1.88M per game. So tell him, for each Tuesday you aren't signed, we deduct $1.88M from our offer.

If he doesn't report to play this season, he doesn't get a year of service, and he still has to play a year to earn free agency.
Bosa could counter by saying he will report by the day he must to play enough games that earn him free agency because he can't be franchise tagged. What would Bosa earn on the open market? It's certainly an interesting question, and the Niners could just wait to sign him as a free agent too.

I'm confused by that statement. Are you saying free agents can't be franchise tagged? I thought that was the whole purpose of franchise tagging...preventing the single free agent that's most important to the team from leaving.