'Tis the season of holdouts, and there is a significant one taking place in San Diego, with rookie Joey Bosa currently skipping training camp while waiting on his rookie contract to get done.
Bosa and the Chargers are reportedly battling over offset language and signing-bonus distribution, and with Darron Lee and Joshua Garnett now inked with the Jets and 49ers, respectively, Bosa is the lone remaining rookie holdout.
The defensive end already missed the Chargers mandatory mini-camp back in June and now the rubber is meeting the proverbial road, with football right around the corner.
Mike McCoy is understandably unhappy about his rookie still being gone.
"He definitely needs to be out here as a rookie," McCoy said. "[I don't have] any update on the status. Tom [Telesco] made his comments the other day, it's the same today and we will keep working at that. He needs to be here, everybody needs to be here, especially as a younger player for the installations, playing with your teammates, things like that. We are going to coach the players who are here, and the players who are here did a nice job today."
Football is a business and it's not uncommon for rookies to take their sweet time getting into camp. Quarterback Philip Rivers, who praised the pick of Bosa earlier this offseason, understands exactly where the defensive lineman is coming from, having held out during his own rookie year.
"It's not any fun, that's for sure," Rivers said. "You try not to watch the sports and the news and see your team practicing and you not being out there. I know it's a hard situation to be in. When it gets done, it'll get done. He'll be here and be a part of it. From what I've seen this offseason, he's going to be a big part of it. Hopefully it's sooner than later."
A report from Pro Football Talk previously indicated the Chargers see the Bosa holdout as "strange" because of the ease for rookie contracts. But if the battle is about signing-bonus dollars now (as opposed to next year, money is always better in pocket than deferred as a rule of life) and offset language, it's understandable Bosa and his camp would want a standard contract for a No. 3 overall selection.
The good news is the actual players on the team don't seem bothered by Bosa's business decision.
"My approach has always been these guys are our teammates. [Football's] not normal. There is that business side to it," Rivers said. "It's not like anybody in the locker room is upset with him. When he gets here, he'll trot out there and we'll play like he's been out there the whole time.
"As a player and a teammate, obviously you want to see him here, but I also know what it's like in that spot."
