Jarrett Bell

USA TODAY Sports

SAN DIEGO – Usually, it’s the pomp and pageantry of the NFL Draft that officially christens the arrival of a new cornerstone player.

For Joey Bosa, the baptism is happening now.

Welcome to the club, kid.

You know you’re actually a San Diego Charger when you’re engaged in some tough, drawn-out contract negotiations that keeps you MIA.

Consider prominent members of the holdout club over the years: LaDainian Tomlinson. Philip Rivers. Antonio Gates. Vincent Jackson. Marcus McNeal. Eric Weddle. Corey Liuget.

Now Bosa, the passionate defensive end from Ohio State drafted third overall, is engaged in an undeniably weird contract stalemate. He’s still unsigned and absent halfway through the preseason -- despite a rookie pool that slots the money for players coming into the league.

No, they are not haggling over tens of millions of dollars. Bosa will receive a four-year, $26 million contract with a team option for a fifth year. This impasse is rooted in differences about how soon Bosa will receive his payments on a $17 million signing bonus and whether offset language will be included in the contract to protect the team in the long-shot event that Bosa is released before his fourth season.

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How silly. But nobody’s budged – yet.

Makes me wonder how this is playing in the Chargers locker room.

“We know it’s a business,” Rivers, the star quarterback, told USA TODAY Sports. “Shoot, when he gets here, he’ll be a teammate and hopefully he’ll be a guy who will help us win a lot of games. Until then, he’s not.

“It’s not one of those deals where we’re mad at him, although we certainly hope he gets here soon.”

Rivers’ view is a lot more tempered than what was expressed recently by Gates and the retired Tomlinson, who despite their contract battles of the past, admonished Bosa.

Typically, players pull for other players to get what they can – especially in an unforgiving NFL environment when there’s always the risk of the next play being your last.

Then again, the management-leaning stances from Gates and Tomlinson (now an analyst for the league-owned NFL Network) might illustrate that bad blood with the front office lingers only so long.

In Bosa’s case, the wedge includes the zinger that his mother, Cheryl, wrote in a Facebook post: “Wish we pulled an Eli Manning on draft day.”

Manning, of course, was the quarterback who refused to play for the Chargers after being drafted No. 1 overall, which fueled the trade to the New York Giants that landed Rivers.

Maybe a compromise is close. People on both sides of the dispute with knowledge of the negotiations told USA TODAY Sports that there have been talks between parties this week. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.

That the two sides are speaking – Bosa is represented by Brian Ayralt of CAA; Chargers negotiator Ed McGuire is backed by team president John Spanos -- suggests a measure of progress in itself after a significant stretch of silence early in training camp.

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Then again, talk is a bit cheap without a spirit of compromise. And both sides are claiming precedents while holding ground on their positions.

The Chargers, who want to defer nearly $7 million of the signing bonus until the middle of March, contend that every player who has struck a deal with the franchise had a portion of the bonus deferred and to make an exception for Bosa might fuel animosity in the locker room and set a new precedent for future deals. The No. 1 overall picks from the past two drafts, Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams and Jameis Winston of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, like the player selected after Bosa, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, had portions of their signing bonuses deferred.

Bosa’s camp points to at least four top-10 picks this year will receive most or all of the signing bonuses paid in 2016. Getting all of the money in this calendar year would facilitate investment options.

As for the offset language, the Chargers also are wary of reversing an organizational trend. Still, if Bosa is cut before playing four years, the more pertinent questions might be directed at the personnel department headed by general manager Tom Telesco.

In any event, there is no winner as it stands now. It’s a lose-lose scenario, at least for the short term.

Bosa is missing so many valuable reps that it could severely affect his impact as a rookie in the John Pagano-coordinated defense.

“You can never get those reps back,” Chargers coach Mike McCoy said. “You’ve got to get into game shape. That takes time.”

The franchise loses, too, when considering it needs whatever help – and big plays – that it can get while trying to mount victories that fuel momentum for a November ballot measure that will determine whether the public funding will exist for a new stadium that would keep the Chargers in town.

McCoy clearly knows what’s missing without Bosa, who is working out in Florida. During offseason workouts, McCoy had no doubt that Bosa was every bit the passionate player as advertised.

McCoy said, “I know he’s probably going crazy not being here.”

In one sense, Bosa is clearly already a member of the club.

Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell