Oh, For Sure, Joey Bosa's Holdout Totally Ruined His Career

Prior to this season, the Chargers and No. 3 overall pick Joey Bosa had contentious negotiations over his signing bonus before both sides ultimately compromised and agreed to terms. Bosa got a larger upfront signing bonus, and the Chargers kept their silly offset language team rule alive.

Antonio Gates has a very clear message for Joey Bosa. "Be a man." https://t.co/wcpgcQbwYh pic.twitter.com/OdHT6TxAk7
— NFL (@NFL) August 10, 2016

But of course, this being the NFL, we couldn't get through the holdout without a cacophony of hot takes about how the holdout would ruin Bosa. "Be a man," as Gates was quoted above, is a classic masculinity/management friendly appeal. Then there was the idea that Bosa being late to camp would hurt his production. Of course, if you look at the historical record of holdouts, this isn't true (Insider), either in the short-term or the long-term.

Bosa missed time with a hamstring injury after he finally signed his contract, but made his debut last weekend. Two games into his career, he's already proving a worthwhile investment. The Chargers, thankfully, backed off their early idea that he would play inside and have made him a rush outside linebacker.

Bosa already leads all rookie linemen in hurries—14 in two games according to Pro Football Focus. On this hurry from last night, he starts at the bottom of the defensive line and stunts inside.

The sack-per-game pace he's on isn't too shabby either.

To be clear, there were legitimate athletic reasons to not believe that Bosa would be an edge rushing star. And it is still early enough in his career that teams have not compiled the film on him that they'd need to play his tendencies. We don't know what he will be yet.

But the idea that his holdout was going to hurt him was always one based on short-sighted, team-focused public relations. Bosa either will or won't be a star—we already know he's at the very least capable. All the hand-wringing about how his holdout would affect him was a complete waste of airspace.

So the next time you hear about contract negotiations being a distraction, or it making players soft and poor, roll your eyes and continue on with your day. History has proven those stories wrong, and Joey Bosa is just the latest example.