Niners GM John Lynch Hits Back at Viral Nick Bosa Rumor

Getty John Lynch, 49ers general manager

What a sometimes bizarre world the web creates. The Niners certainly saw that in full force this week, with a rumor developing on the website Reddit gaining enough traction that GM John Lynch was asked, point-blank, about it.

The rumor: The Niners, fed up with the way the contract holdout by Nick Bosa has played out, were nearing a deal to trade him rather than continuing to try to re-sign him.

Lynch’s response: “No. Real simple.”

So, scratch that off the list of possible outcomes here. Still, patience is wearing thin as the NFL season approaches, with Week 1 less than 10 days away and no deal in place. And there has been some hand-wringing lately about the state of negotiations, which appear—from way outside, at least—to be at a standstill.

“No updates,” Lynch said on Wednesday. “Yeah, I’m going to stick to that. But [there is] communication, and that’s a good thing, so I’ll leave it at that.”

‘Communication Is Ongoing’: Lynch

On Thursday, Lynch appeared on the “Murph and Mac Show” on radio station KNBR in San Francisco and again said there was nothing new to report—but added that Bosa and the team are in communication.

“As this thing gets closer, sure, that becomes more present because people will talk about it more,” Lynch said via 49ersWebZone.com. “But there’s no updates there. What I’ll tell you is that the communication is ongoing, it’s good, it’s healthy, and we’re working to try to get something done. I don’t have any more updates other than that.”

With most players, there would be enormous concern about missing an entire training camp, and missing the practices leading up to Week 1 as well. Lynch said that someone who watches his body as closely as Bosa does not evoke quite as many of those concerns, but that he worries Bosa won’t be in “football shape” to start the year.

“I don’t care how many years you played; if I was in year 15, which I was, being in those meeting rooms, getting acclimated to football again, I prided myself [in that],” Lynch shared. “I didn’t look like Nick Bosa. I didn’t have abs like that, but I prided myself on being in better shape than everyone else. But there’s football shape, there’s things like that.

“But Nick is real smart. I know he’s probably been taking his training there, so he’ll be ready, and we look forward to that day that he’s back.”

Bosa Seeking Significant Raise

There’s no question about Bosa’s impact on the Niners defense. He has been a Pro Bowl player in all three seasons he has been healthy (he played only two games in his second year), and led the NFL with 18.5 sacks last year, when he was named Defensive Player of the Year. He led the league in tackles for loss in 2021.

And there’s no question Bosa is worthy of a raise. He is slated to make $17.9 million next season, well behind the top edge rushers in the league– T.J. Watt of the Steelers ($28 million) and Nick’s brother Joey Bosa of the Chargers ($27 million).

The highest paid defensive player in the league is Aaron Donald of the Rams, at $31.7 million, and there have been suggestions that Bosa wants to top his salary.