I guess that was one email Joey Bosa forgot to read when he attended the NFL rookie symposium earlier this summer. Over the course of 27 days, Bosa has gone from millionaire and cornerstone of the San Diego Chargers defense, to a potential millionaire and a cocktail party joke.
A two-time All American defensive lineman at Ohio State, Bosa was the early favorite to be selected first overall in April's NFL draft. The Tennessee Titans could have stayed at number one, since they already drafted their franchise quarterback last year in Marcus Mariota. Instead, the Titans decided to trade out to the Los Angeles Rams.
And thus begins the free-fall of Bosa…
Bosa went from top-overall pick to auslander in less than 15 minutes...the time the Rams took to select California quarterback Jared Goff. The Philadelphia Eagles then sold the farm to Cleveland in order move into the second pick for North Dakota quarterback Carson Wentz. Now came the fun of where Bosa would end up. Would San Diego take him at three? Would he slip to Dallas at four, and anchor their retooled defense? Could he fall to San Francisco at seven? Would he fall out of the top 10 completely as a result of most of the teams in the back-half not in demand of defensive linemen?
Bosa was the most NFL-ready player in the draft. That idea itself is all the more hilarious due to Bosa being suspended the first game of his final season at Ohio State due to a violation of team rules. He followed that gem up with being ejected in the first quarter of his final game, which just happened to be the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. Bosa was tossed for crowning Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer.
The idea of San Diego drafting Bosa left many experts scratching their head. Bosa is a natural pass rusher, and flourished in the 4-3 scheme at Ohio State. San Diego runs a 3-4, and Bosa would instantly command a double-team coming off the edge. A natural beast like Bosa should be able to easily shed the slower offensive lineman, and be able to rush any quarterback in his new system.
These would all be great theories to test, except for the fact that Joey Bosa has still not signed his rookie contract with the Chargers. For the first two weeks of training camp, he had not even spoken with Charger management to negotiate said contract.
Bosa’s biggest complaint was San Diego not offering a contract that immediately pays out his entire signing bonus up-front. Bosa’s mother was quoted as saying she wished her son would have pulled an “Eli Manning” on draft night, and state he would not play for the Chargers.
Ah yes, the Eli Manning fiasco of 2004, and how we missed you…
If you remember, San Diego had the top pick in the 2004 draft, and were targeting Manning for months. Manning told the press he would not sign if drafted by the Chargers. San Diego in turn drafted Manning, then immediately flipped him to the New York Giants, who drafted Philip Rivers fourth overall. Manning won two Super Bowls, and Rivers has guided the Chargers to a single AFC Championship Game (2007).
This is nothing new for Charger fans, who had to also put up with the failure that was Ryan Leaf, and the Manti Te’o fiasco just three years ago. If you remember, Te’o was supposed to be a top 10 selection, before the girlfriend hoax caused him to fall to the second round.
Now today, the Chargers pulled their contract offer off the table. The contract would have been the second-largest for this year’s rookie class behind Wentz, and provided a $17 million signing bonus. The bonus would have been the largest for any rookie league-wide in over two years. The Chargers offered 85-percent of the bonus (about $14.455 million) now, and the remaining 15-percent once the 2017 NFL calendar year starts (30 days after Super Bowl LI).
Instead of getting into NFL shape, which at 265 lbs is undersized to play defensive end in the NFL, Bosa is sitting on his couch. Instead of gaining valuable experience with the first- or second-team on San Diego’s rebuilt defense, Bosa is at the bottom of their depth chart. Even if Bosa would have signed the deal the Chargers just rescinded, he still would need to figure out how to make up for 27 days worth of missed training camp. You could go Weird Science with Lawrence Taylor and Bruce Smith, and still not be able to get up to game speed after missing a month.
Bosa’s defiance did benefit one team however...the Tennessee Titans. Maybe Tennessee had more in mind than stripping Los Angeles of three high-round draft picks over the next two years. Maybe Tennessee realized Bosa’s ego in college was going to limit his productivity in the pros. Maybe the Titans knew that anyone associated with the Ohio State program since Urban Meyer took over was just not worth the headache. Do I even have to bring up the ongoing Ezekiel Elliott story, or the tattoo allegation that cost Ohio State a shot at the 2012 National Championship?! Oh wait...I just did.
Or maybe the Titans knew Joey Bosa is one-dimensional as a pass rusher, and a limited skill set is going to make him more of a project than a phenom.
Yet another email Bosa forgot to read, apparently.
-JC24