Inside the Nick Bosa deal
The 49ers ended defensive end Nick Bosa's holdout with a contract that makes him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history. The contract is now official, which means it's time to look at all of the details.
It is a five-year, $170 million extension, with $34 million per year in new-money average. The total six-year contract pays out $188.9 from signing, for a total average $31.48 million over six years.
Here are the full details, per a source with knowledge of the terms:
1. Signing bonus: $50 million.
2. 2023 base salary: $1.01 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2024 option bonus: $15.230 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2024 base salary: $1.125 million, fully guaranteed.
5. 2024 per-game roster bonus: $500,000 total, fully guaranteed (he still must be on game-day roster to earn each bonus).
6. 2025 compensation: $20.35 million fully guaranteed at signing, $10.050529 million guaranteed for injury at signing. It becomes fully guaranteed on April 1, 2024. (The payment comes in the form of an option bonus — $29.015529 million — and a base salary of $1.17 million.)
7. 2025 per-game roster bonus: $500,000 total, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed as of April 1, 2024 (he still must be on game-day roster to earn).
8. 2026 base salary: $22.68 million, guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed as of April 1, 2025.
9. 2026 per-game roster bonus: $500,000 total.
10. 2027 base salary: $32.679 million, $769,421 of which is guaranteed for injury at signing and fully guaranteed as of April 1, 2025.
11. 2027 per-game roster bonus: $500,000 total.
12. 2028 base salary: $33.5 million.
13. 2028 per-game roster bonus: $500,000 total.
In all, the deal has $88 million fully guaranteed at signing, $8 million more than T.J. Watt's deal. By April 1, 2025, $122.5 million will be fully guaranteed. To avoid owing him the full amount of the guarantee, the 49ers would have to release him after two seasons, at a total obligation of $88 million.
The total guarantee eclipses his brother, Joey, who had the highest total guarantee for any defensive player for the past three years.
Bosa will be paid $98.55 million over the first three years. That's $3.5 more than Bills quarterback Josh Allen over three years, and a whopping $35.5 million more than Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes over three years. It's $18.55 million more than Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt over the first three years, and $3.55 million more than Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald's three-year haul.
Beyond the $122.5 million in total guarantees, another $7.5 million becomes guaranteed for injury if he becomes defensive player of the year in 2023, 2024, and 2025. If the injury guarantee triggers, it becomes fully guaranteed as of April 1, 2026.
