Joey Bosa’s rookie year in jeopardy; Chargers to blame

Joey Bosa hasn’t made his debut in an NFL game yet, and that might not happen any time soon, either.

The team that drafted him, San Diego, announced Wednesday it has reached an impasse with the former Ohio State All-American defensive lineman then proceeded to remind everyone why it is regarded as one of the league’s most dysfunctional.

In what feels like an unusual move – perhaps because NFL draftee holdouts have been so rare throughout most of the time Twitter has been widely used – the Chargers tweeted out an explanation for pulling their offer to Bosa.

https://twitter.com/Chargers/status/768509903707123712

Such proactive PR would deserve praise if it weren’t attempting to cover for a ridiculous move.

The dispute boils down to when Bosa, whose total salary is more or less determined by his slot in the draft thanks to changes in the collective bargaining agreement in 2011, gets paid and how much he is owed in the extremely unlikely scenario he would be released before his contract runs out.

It’s certainly not worth losing significant time over, and the club’s decision to double down by threatening to pay him a prorated salary based on how many games he can actually contribute this fall isn’t something I can recall from any of the past similar disputes, which used to be much more common than they are today.

With every passing day, it's harder and harder not to conclude Bosa's mother might have known what she was talking about when she told a friend she wishes her family had "pulled an Eli Manning."