As the San Francisco 49ers open the 2023 NFL season Sunday in Pittsburgh, they will have 2022’s NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa lined up at defensive end.
Nick Bosa, who ended a holdout earlier this week and signed a record-setting contract extension with the Niners, was listed as questionable for the Week 1 matchup after the holdout kept him out of practice until Thursday.
But on Saturday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Bosa will be active on for Sunday’s Week 1 game.
49ers officially activated DL Nick Bosa today and he will play in Sunday’s regular-season opener at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 9, 2023
The 49ers and Bosa agreed on a five-year deal to keep the 25-year-old in the Bay Area. The deal is worth $170 million with $122.5 million in guarantees, making it the richest deal for a non-quarterback in NFL history.
It’s easy to see why the Niners made it such a priority to extend Bosa. Firstly, the timing was perfect as San Francisco’s starting quarterback Brock Purdy is making just $2.5 million this year. Generally, a quarterback will be a team’s largest cap hit, so Purdy’s salary being so low opened things up for the Niners in other areas.
Bosa has recorded 43 sacks so far in his four-year career, with an NFL-best 18.5 coming in the 2022 season en route to his first career Defensive Player of the Year Award. Bosa was the first Niners player to win Defensive Player of the Year since Dana Stubblefield in 1997.
Since Bosa was drafted in 2019. Including the postseason, San Francisco is 43-17 when he plays and just 5-10 when he doesn’t.
