NFL Detention and Detention: Latest posts about Chris Jones, Nick Bossa, and Brian Burns

As the NFL season draws to a close and the regular season begins, three of the best players in the league still have financial looms on the horizon.

In pursuit of lucrative contract extensions, San Francisco 49ers’ defensive end Nick Bosa, Carolina Panthers linebacker Brian Burns, and Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones either hold (Bosa, Jones) or hold (Burns).

Every situation is unique, but the three absences loom large as Bossa, Burns and Jones aim to secure deals that would make them among the highest paid players in their position.

ESPN reporters Nick Wagner, David Newton, Adam Tesher and Jeremy Fowler take a look at what’s going on with Bosa, Burns and Jones with Week 1 on us:

Current contract details

Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers: Bosa is entering the final season under his rookie contract after the Niners exercised a fifth-year option on him in 2022. If Bosa were to play this season under that option, he would be paid $17,859,000, all fully guaranteed as long as he reports this week. – trolley

Brian Burns, Carolina Panthers: The 16th pick of the 2019 draft is entering the final year of his rookie deal with the Panthers that will pay him $16 million after the team selected his fifth-year pick in 2022. He currently ranks 12th among rushers; That’s for a player with a career-high 12.5 sacks and a second consecutive selection to the Pro Bowl. – Newton

Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs: Jones is heading into the final season of a four-year, $80 million contract signed in 2020. The contract now makes him the ninth-highest-paid average interior defensive player. Jones is set to earn a base salary of $19.5 million this season. He forfeited a $500,000 workout bonus due to missing the Chiefs offseason program. – Techer

What do they want in the New Deal?

bossa: Both sides have kept the details of these negotiations quiet, but it’s reasonable to believe that Bosa aims to become not only the highest-paid player but the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history. Bosa said after last season that he didn’t “necessarily” want or expect it, but agent Brian Ayrault had previously negotiated such deals with Nick’s brother Joey Bosa of the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Donald set the standard for the highest average annual value ($31.67 million) and Pittsburgh Steelers’ TJ Watt has the highest level defender in fully guaranteed money at $80 million. The Bosa deal is likely to bypass one or both of them. – trolley

Burns: He said he wants to be among the highest paid rushers in the NFL. Not higher, however within the above. That currently puts him in the $23 million to $28 million range, but that will change if Bossa surpasses Donald’s $31.67 million per year. The Panthers prefer to keep Burns’ average closer to the $23 million range, but Burns is believed to want closer to the $27 million to $28 million range, which is why the two sides aren’t that close, according to a source familiar with the matter. the situation. It’s hard to imagine the Panthers and Burns coming to terms until Bossa adjusts the market. – Newton

Jones: Negotiating a new deal for the top defensive deal is difficult because of the odd positioning among existing contracts at the top of the market. There is a gap of more than $7 million per season between the highest-paid tackle (Donald $31.67 million) and the second-highest paid tackle (Queenen Williams of the New York Jets). If Jones wants to be in Donald’s range and the Chiefs expect the contract to come in slightly higher than that of Williams, there could still be a huge gap. – Techer

How did they end up in this situation?

bossa: Given the Niners’ track record of completing market-defining deals before camp with stars like linebacker Fred Warner and tight end George Kittle, there was reason to believe Bosa would complete a similar schedule. But this deal is more complicated for two reasons: It involves a lot more money, and the Niners are in a more difficult position capping bosses’ salaries than they were when they signed Kittle and Warner. San Francisco also favors adding guaranteed base salaries starting in early April, which has been a sticking point in other negotiations, most notably with Keitel. – trolley

Burns: The Panthers turned down an offer of two first-round picks (2024 and 2025) to Burns last season before the trade deadline, which was more than they got for running back Christian McCaffrey (2023 second-, third-, and fourth-round picks, 2024 fifth-round pick). That sent a message to Burns and his camp that he was the most valuable player on the team. After that, Burns had a career-high 12.5 sacks, clinched his second Pro Bowl, and the team said publicly that he was key to their transformation from a 4-3 scheme to a 3-4 scheme. So, from a leverage standpoint, Burns has it all. He went through the entire training camp, thinking a deal would be struck, but waiting for Bosa to set the market stalled negotiations. – Newton

Jones: The Chiefs have shown discipline in recent contract negotiations with several star players, getting to a point where they won’t budge any longer, and such is the case in their talks with Jones. This philosophy made them lose a few players, most notably receiver Terek Hill last year. Chiefs seem surprised Jones has come this far, and we naturally wonder if they would have tried to trade Jones during the offseason, as they did with Hill with one season remaining on his contract last year, had they known he would. Skip at least one game this season. – Techer

What will each missed match cost?

bossa: For any game Bosa does not play, he will forfeit a game check of $1,050,529.41. The 49ers can also fine Bosa up to $40,000 for each missed practice, but general manager John Lynch has already made it clear that the team intends to waive all fines, an option available to him since Bosa is on a fifth-year option. – trolley

Burns: In addition to the fines imposed by the team, which have not yet been imposed, Burns will lose about $900,000 per game if he does not play. It’s hard to imagine it will come to this. Burns participated in all of training camp and didn’t start his detention until last week. He’s involved in team meetings, so the next few days will be crucial. – Newton

Jones: With his base salary of $19.5 million, each game check for Jones is worth approximately $1.15 million. Jones hinted on social media recently that if he and the Chiefs can’t agree on the terms of the contract, it could run until the eighth week. A fan told him that this would be a heavy price to pay, to which Jones replied: “I can afford it.” He. She.” – Techer

What does their absence mean to the team?

bossa: The Niners’ hopes of breaking through and winning the Super Bowl will take a major hit if Bosa, arguably the most important player on the team, is out for an extended period. He’s the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and history has shown the Niners to be dominant when they play and much less when they don’t. Since Bossa entered the league in 2019, San Francisco is 43-17 in games played and 5-10 in games not played (including the playoffs). – trolley

Burns: Everything. This is not an overestimation. With the exception of Justin Houston, who’s 34, the Panthers don’t have a proven high-flying skill, which is key in their 3-4 scheme. This could go from a potential top-ten defenseman to the lower half of the league. Losing the team’s best player and captain would also be a locker room disruption. Veteran linebacker Chuck Thompson said it best: “Everyone upstairs knows he better be up there by Wednesday. He’s a big factor on this defense. He’s the guy who really starts it off.” – Newton

Jones: It’s hard to see how the Chiefs can properly cover the loss of Jones, their sacks leader, in each of the past five seasons. They finished second in the league last season with 55 sacks based on Jones’ passing success, who had a career-high 15.5. His absence is exacerbated by the six-game ban imposed on one of the Chiefs’ best pass tacklers, Charles Omenihu. The Chiefs were concerned enough about their depth of defensive tackle that on stoppage day, they traded the Las Vegas Raiders for Neil Farrell. – Techer

How long can these cases last? This is what Fowler hears

bossa: Bossa wields enormous power, which may increase his patience to hold out for as long as possible. He was the best defensive player in football last year. While still under his rookie contract, fines imposed on him for missing camp can be waived. It seems pretty clear that he’s aiming for Donald’s record-breaking $31.67 million a year, and if anyone deserves to hit that number now, it’s a bossa. Team 49 knows this, which is why they can try to end this sooner rather than later. But for now, Bossa is content to wait.

Burns: This is a tough one because Burns has said all along that he plans to play games. He came to the training camp in good faith. But the two sides are still far apart after months of discussions. The nuclear options are to ask for a swap or decide to sit out the games, but there is no hard evidence Burns will go that far. The feeling is that he will play games, based on his previous comments.

Jones: As the Chiefs prepared to be without Jones in the early part of the season, Jones’ conviction will be tested. He has incurred over $2 million in non-waiverable fines, and loses $1.1 million for every game he misses. And at some point, the negotiating gap between the club and the player – which is believed to be at least a few million a year – could not make up for Jones’ losses, even if he eventually got what he wanted. But he has gone this far and wholeheartedly believes he is closer to the top of the market than the rest of the tackles, so he might be willing to wait a few more weeks.