Here’s when 49ers fans should start to panic about Nick Bosa

David Lombardi, 49ers reporter for the Athletic, spoke with 95.7 The Game (KGMZ-FM) on Wednesday and talked about where things were regarding negotiations with the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Bosa is on the final year of his rookie deal and is due for a multi-year nine-figure extension. He has yet to report to training camp as these negotiations have played out.

Lombardi told the station that he’s not concerned about how those talks have progressed, but he did point out when they could start becoming an actual problem for the team.

“It’s a moving deadline, if you will, and I think the hard deadline is Week 1,” Lombardi said. “If something is not happening by Tuesday or Wednesday of Week 1, that’s when you can start sounding the alarm. If he didn’t report at the very start of camp, what’s going to cause him to report now?”

Normally, the answer to the question Lombardi posed would be fines, but 49ers general manager John Lynch has already dismissed the idea of fining Bosa for missed practices and preseason games. That’s a big sign that the team really wants to keep arguably the best defensive player in football.

There aren’t many details about the specifics of this negotiation, which is by design. Lynch mentioned earlier this summer that he wanted to keep negotiations “private,” and so far they’ve done just that, much to the chagrin of everyone eager to see Bosa on the field — Lynch included. The only thing that’s really known is there’s no outward sense of urgency from either side.

Lombardi did speculate that both sides are still playing “hardball” behind the scenes. On one side is Bosa who, after seeing Aaron Donald’s three-year, $95 million contract last season, wants to get paid on that level, which would make Bosa one of the highest-paid players in the league. On the other are the Niners, who want to maximize cap flexibility with this very talented squad practicing without its best player. However, the many millions the two sides are negotiating over could create problems for the Niners’ books down the road.

“But the issue is, even if it was a couple million, it’s significant, because the 49ers are really, really crammed up against the salary cap,” Lombardi said. “They have a lot of star players. … I think that couple million, extrapolate that over five years, with the 49ers so up against the cap — they’re way over already in ’24 — they’re going to have to make some cuts. They really want to play hardball here and make sure they can keep this roster stable.”

Stability is important, but it only means so much when the tradeoff is losing a player who’s well on his way to being an all-time great.