The 49ers on Monday announced they’ve exercised the fifth-year option on Nick Bosa’s rookie contract. First-round draft picks have the fifth-year club option on their standard four-year rookie deals.
This is perhaps the least surprising move of the last several off-seasons after Bosa put up 15.5 sacks in his first season back from a torn ACL that cut his 2020 campaign short.
While the 49ers exercised Bosa’s fifth-year option, it’s doubtful he’ll play any time on that deal. He’s eligible for an extension this offseason and general manager John Lynch on Monday said the club is working toward that.
“And I’ve maintained consistently that Nick, in our minds, we’re going to do everything we can to keep him a part of this organization,” Lynch told reporters in a pre-draft press conference. “He’s a foundational player, much like Deebo, a difference maker. And he’s just a year out, because he was a first-round pick. And so, we exercised that fifth-year option and, at the appropriate time, we’ll endeavor to make that a reality that he’s here for a long time, but it’s all good there.”
Adding the fifth-year option just insulates the 49ers from a disaster scenario where no extension gets done for Bosa this year. It’s not an indicator that the team is afraid a deal won’t get done.
Expect the next Bosa-related news to be a massive contract extension that puts him with or above the highest-paid defenders in the NFL.