Talanoa Hufanga claims the 49ers have to prepare as if ‘Nick Bosa won’t be there’ amid turmoil over the DE’s contract negotiations

Talanoa Hufanga hinted Nick Bosa might not play week 1 due to contract disputes.

Talanoa Hufanga claims the 49ers have to prepare as if ‘Nick Bosa won’t be there’ amid turmoil over the DE’s contract negotiations

Nick Bosa (L) Talanoa Hufanga (R) (Credits: Imago)

The San Francisco 49ers are currently preparing for their season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers which is scheduled to take place this weekend. Still, the Niners haven’t reached a middle ground on their star defensive end Nick Bosa‘s contract extension. Last week, head coach Kyle Shanahan said that he is expecting Bosa to start training ahead of their opener. But now, one of Bosa’s teammates Talanoa Hufanga hints Bosa might miss week 1 due to contract disputes.

“For us, we just got to play with who we got,” Hufanga said, via Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News. “We would love to have Bosa, obviously. I think that’s a no-brainer.” 

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The All-Pro defensive back went on to label the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year winner Nick Bosa as the best defensive player in the league. Still, he said that the Niners have to prepare as if Bosa isn’t going to be on the squad for their week 1 game against the Steelers.

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“Best defensive player in NFL, and it shows,” said Talanoa Hufanga. “For us, we’ve just got to prepare as if he’s not going to be here. Obviously, that’s an upper-echelon question; that’s a front-office question. And so, for me, I don’t know if I can answer anything else on that, but once he’s here, we’d love to have him.”

If Bosa missed the 49ers’ game against the Steelers, it would be a massive loss for the San Francisco-based football team. However, it seems like Bosa won’t be stepping onto the field without securing that contract extension.

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Nick Bosa is looking to become the highest-paid defender

Nick Bosa 49ers Steve Keim Kyler Murray Cardinals
Nick Bosa (Image via Yahoo Sports)

The 49ers and Nick Bosa contract negotiation could drag into the Niners season. According to multiple reports, Bosa is looking for a deal that would make him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL.

Currently, the Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald is the league’s highest-paid defender by annual average salary. He is earning $31 million per year with the Rams.

Bosa is looking to surpass that contract. The 49ers picked up the fifth-year option of the former first-round pick. If Bosa played on the 5th-year option in 2023, he would get paid $17.8 million, which is nowhere near what the DPOY is looking to make in his next contract.

Nonetheless, the contract could get done before the season starts as losing Bosa could have a major impact on the Niners’ defensive unit. John Lynch, the general manager of the 49ers would be looking to get that done within the next few days.

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