Nick Bosa understood what Aaron Donald did when the Rams defensive tackle became the highest-paid defensive player in history in June 2022: The value of the nonquarterback contract is not just a reflection of the market, but it is a monetary representation of a team’s willingness to actually try to win a Super Bowl.
That’s why the only surprise with Bosa’s market-topping extension (reportedly a five-year, $170 million deal with $122.5 million guaraneed) being agreed to Wednesday was exactly how long it took to complete. I don’t think anyone on the Steelers, San Francisco’s Week 1 opponent, would imagine 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan or GM John Lynch sitting passively while games went by without the services of the league’s most dominant defensive player. Bosa, Reggie White and J.J. Watt are among the small handful of players who have had more than one 15-plus sack season over the course of their first four years in the NFL. If Bosa ages as a true tactician, the contract will be well worth the money.
But it’s not about whether he’s worth the money over a long period of time. It was never about whether Donald was worth the money over a long period of time. It is about realizing the true potential of a championship window, and cutting loose the actuarial segment of your brain interested in haggling over the last few wheat pennies. It’s about showering your best player with cash so that he will play well and, by extension, other players will play well in the hopes of also needing a vault installed in their basement crawl space once they see the direct deposit hit.
