Nick Bosa’s 49ers standoff ends with $122 million guaranteed

The 49ers have their big dog back in the fold. NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa agreed to a five-year, $170 million deal on Wednesday, ending a holdout that was in its seventh week. Bosa will play on Sunday against the Steelers, head coach Kyle Shanahan said.

The contract includes over $122 million of guaranteed money, according to ESPN. Bosa appeared to confirm the deal on Instagram, posting a picture of himself in a Niners uniform captioned “Shall we.”

Bosa had outperformed his rookie contract, terrorizing quarterbacks to the tune of 34 sacks over his last 33 games. The two sides took the contract standoff down to the wire, with Bosa missing the first regular-season practice on Wednesday and reports emerging that Bosa’s status for Week 1 was “in doubt.”

With the deal sealed, Bosa headed to California on Wednesday, presumably from his father’s training center in Florida.

“I kinda got in my mind that we weren’t playing with him,” Shanahan said. But Bosa will be there. “He’d have to have a beer belly and be out of shape or something,” Shanahan said of what it would take for Bosa to miss Sunday’s game. “And that’s not in Bosa’s DNA.” Asked what a realistic snap count for Bosa was, Shanahan asked the reporter how many snaps were in the game.

The deal’s average annual value of $34 million and total guarantees of $122 million are both the most ever for a defensive player. Bosa certainly earned it. In his first season, he tallied nine sacks and won Defensive Rookie of the Year. Then he tore his ACL and missed most of 2020; the Niners went 6-10. Healthy the last two years, the Niners went to two straight NFC title games while he racked up more than a sack per game.

This is a developing news story and will be updated.