Steelers' Mike Tomlin Expecting 49ers' Nick Bosa to Play Week 1 amid Contract Talks

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that his team is preparing for the San Francisco 49ers as if reigning Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa, who is holding out amid a contract dispute, will be playing Sunday.

"Yes, we are preparing for Bosa," Tomlin told reporters Tuesday (h/t Kevin Patra of NFL.com) while referencing the Steelers' "similar circumstance" with their own edge-rusher superstar, T.J. Watt.

"It's prudent for us to assume that he is gonna be there and prepare in that vein, as opposed to be surprised. We were in a similar circumstance with a dynamic rusher a couple of years ago in T.J. We got a deal done at the eleventh hour. He showed up in the stadium, and he was T.J. Watt that day. So that's what those guys do. They show up, and they are who they are."

Preparing for Bosa is probably the wise move for Pittsburgh given the player's destructive on-field nature. He just amassed an NFL-high 18.5 sacks en route to leading the top-scoring defense in football.

Minus his injury-shortened 2020 campaign, Bosa has led the 49ers to NFC Championship Game appearances in each of his three healthy seasons (2019, 2021, 2022), reaching the Super Bowl in his rookie year.

Although the Steelers are preparing for Bosa, there seems to be a legitimate chance that he won't be making it to Pittsburgh. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the latest on Monday.

"This really isn't a question of, is he gonna be the NFL's highest-paid pass-rusher. It sounds to me like they're already there, already past T.J. Watt," Rapoport said. "That's not really what this is about. ... This is about how close to Aaron Donald's $31 million and change does he get, or does he get over that?"

Ultimately, there's still time to get something done, although the clock is clearly ticking. If the holdout lasts through Sunday, then Bosa's next chance to play would be Sept. 17 against the Los Angeles Rams. That would mean a huge break for Pittsburgh as it would avoid facing arguably the best defensive player in football.

We'll see what happens soon enough when San Francisco visits Pittsburgh Sunday for a 1 p.m. ET game.