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Joey Bosa's agent fires back at San Diego Chargers

By The Sports Xchange
Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa receives his jersey from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected by the San Diego Chargers with the third overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft on April 28, 2016 in Chicago. Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI
Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa receives his jersey from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected by the San Diego Chargers with the third overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft on April 28, 2016 in Chicago. Photo by Brian Kersey/UPI | License Photo

The San Diego Chargers pulled their "best offer" to unsigned first-round defensive end Joey Bosa after the No. 3 overall pick in the 2016 draft rejected the team's offer on Wednesday.

Bosa's reps fired back, calling the public statement revisionist history.

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The Chargers reportedly agreed to pay 85 percent of Bosa's $18 million signing bonus, but did not budge on the offset language common in rookie deals. Bosa's representative said the team's position was unfortunate, and added that the Chargers were silent for 14 days after the team submitted a contract proposal on July 28, the day before camp began.

"We gave Joey's representatives our best offer last night, which was rejected today," the team said in a statement Wednesday. "The offer that we extended was for Joey to contribute during all 16 games and beyond. Joey's ability to contribute for an entire rookie season has now been jeopardized by the valuable time he has missed with his coaches and his teammates. Since Joey will not report at this time, his ability to produce not just early in the season, but throughout the entire season, has been negatively impacted.

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"As a result, we will restructure our offer since Joey will be unable to contribute for the full 16-game season without the adequate time on the practice field, in the classroom, and in preseason games."

The Chargers said they presented Bosa with an offer that included:

-- An initial signing bonus payment that is larger than any rookie has received in the last two NFL drafts.

-- More money in 2016 than every rookie in this year's class except one (Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz).

-- The largest payment and the highest percentage of signing bonus received in the first calendar of any Chargers' first-round pick since the inception of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (2011).

Bosa is the only unsigned first-round pick from the 2016 draft.

At this point, all we can do is continue to fight for a fair contract on behalf of our client, as we do for all of our clients.

"The Chargers can focus on trying to sway public opinion, but our focus will remain on our client and securing a contract for him that is fair and consistent with his draft position," Bosa's agents said Wednesday.

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The main issue reportedly is regarding how guarantees will be distributed. Bosa was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year with 13.5 sacks in 2015 (26 in his career).

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