What is Going on With Joey Bosa and the Chargers?

Statement from the San Diego Chargers on defensive end Joey Bosa. pic.twitter.com/BayBGeN22x
— San Diego Chargers (@Chargers) August 24, 2016

Earlier today, the San Diego Chargers released a Fuck You statement regarding holdout defensive end Joey Bosa and their efforts to sign the former Ohio State Buckeye. The Chargers claim they made their last, best offer to Bosa's camp last night, and that offer was rejected this morning. Included in the offer were the following:

• The largest initial signing bonus payment given out in the last two years.
• The most money in this calendar year of anyone drafted not named Carson Wentz.
• Some other bullshit about how generous the Chargers are being.

The issues between the two sides have been fairly simple: Bosa does not want any of his signing bonus deferred, and the Chargers want to defer roughly half of it to next year; Bosa does not want any offset language—which essentially lets a team cut a player without having to pay out on the contract if he signs elsewhere for the same amount owed—and the Chargers do. Neither side has budged and here we are.

Now that Bosa has rejected their latest offer, the Chargers are playing even harder ball. They took it completely off the table and say they will now only contemplate a contract that factors in the fact that Bosa will not play a full 16-game schedule if he ever does sign. The Chargers play their third, and most important, preseason game on Sunday and even if he signed today, Bosa likely wouldn't be ready to play in it, and he likely would not be ready to suit up for the season opener on September 11.

This is all really weird! Bosa was selected No. 3 overall in this year's draft and unlike Eli Manning—another tough Chargers negotiator—he has never so much as hinted that he didn't want to play for San Diego, let alone tell them up front he would not play for them, like Manning did before the 2004 draft. In fact, Bosa showed up for rookie camp and has even been photographed in a Chargers uniform.

Is Bosa taking a stand against bullshit NFL contracts that are even less guaranteed than they already appear to be? Is the NFLPA trying to gain whatever leverage it can with Bosa acting as the tip of the spear? (If it can't win against Goodell, maybe it can win against the owners.)

It's impossible to know, but the problem is, Bosa has no leverage against the Chargers. At this point, it's either take whatever we are going to give you, or you sit out a year. And teams know this—that's why San Diego can put out a statement like the one above and no one bats an eye. Everyone will simply say Bosa got what he deserved for his greediness. This is an amazing feat for the Chargers and the NFL when you consider that this dispute can best be described as being fought between a player who wants to make sure he gets the money that has been contractually promised, and a team that wants to make sure it can get away with not paying the money they contractually promised.