Yesterday the Chargers had to withdraw the initial offer they’d made to their third overall draft pick as they fear he’s set to miss regular season playing time as a result of his holdout.
But Umenyiora, who played 11 seasons in the NFL winning two Super Bowls along the way, says it’s not Bosa’s fault for the stalled talks.
Speaking at preview event for EA SPORTS Madden NFL 17, he said: “It's the team's fault. The Chargers are making a mistake.
“They're trying to stick to their guns saying: 'We don't do this for people, so we're not going to do this for you.'
“But for Joey, he's sitting there looking at the guy who got picked in front of him (Carson Wentz) and the guy who got picked right behind him (Ezekiel Elliott) who had that language in their contract.
“His options are really limited though, he doesn't really have any choice."
When asked if Bosa’s rookie year was going to be negatively affected by the holdout, Umenyiora said: “Yeah for sure, but also the team picked him with their third overall pick, they picked him high.
“So they're going to be affected also, nobody's going to win here, this is a lose-lose situation.
“I think the Chargers should do the right thing and take care of what he's asking for.
“I don't think he'd be asking for it if it was completely unreasonable.”
Yesterday the Chargers released an official statement explaining that they are withdrawing the initial rookie contract they’d drawn up for Bosa.
It said: "The offer that we extended was for Joey to contribute during all 16 games and beyond.
“Joey’s ability to contribute for an entire rookie season has now been jeopardized by the valuable time he has missed with his coaches and his team-mates.
“Since Joey will not report at this time, his ability to produce not just early in the season, but throughout the entire season, has been negatively impacted.
“As a result, we will restructure our offer since Joey will be unable to contribute for the full 16 game season without the adequate time on the practice field, in the classroom, and in preseason games.”
Joey Bosa is now the only first-round draft pick not to sign with their team.
The disagreement between the two parties is over the amount of guaranteed money that Bosa would receive from his contract up front, as opposed to the amount being spread out over the remainder of his deal.
Osi Umnenyiora was speaking at a preview event for EA SPORTS Madden NFL 17 ahead of the game’s August 25th release. To find out more information, and to discover the latest features in the game, head to https://www.easports.com/madden-nfl
