Following a successful nine-season run that included five Pro Bowl appearances, the Los Angeles Chargers decided to part ways with edge rusher Joey Bosa on Wednesday afternoon, cutting ties with the last remaining member of the San Diego Chargers in a move that will save the franchise nearly $26 million in cap space. There were rumblings that this move was potentially in the works given Bosa’s age, injury history and cap hit, and now, it’s official. What also may soon become official is that Joey Bosa and his younger brother Nick Bosa could end up on opposite sides of the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive line.
“Money will be a factor, but for over a year, there has been buzz that Joey Bosa would love to play alongside his brother Nick Bosa in San Francisco if the Chargers ever moved on,” Ari Meirov of the 33rd Team noted on X. “Here we are.”
Here we are indeed. The Bosa brothers played one season together at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale when Nick was a freshman and Joey was a senior. They both went on to have standout careers at Ohio State before ending up the 2nd and 3rd overall picks in the 2019 and 2016 NFL Draft’s respectively. Even though nothing is concrete, it feels like it would be a substantial surprise if the 49ers and Joey Bosa didn’t end up reaching a short-term big money deal.
A big reason why the 49ers followed their Super Bowl 58 appearance with a disappointing 6-11 season in 2024, in addition to an onslaught of injuries, was a lack of a pass rush in comparison to the previous season. In 2023, San Francisco finished with 48 sacks (8th in the league) and 122 QB hits (3rd). In 2024, they were 23rd and 25th in those two categories.
Assuming that both Nick and Joey could stay healthy — which, history has told us is a back if — and assuming the 49ers do indeed reach a deal with the older Bosa, this should improve in 2025.
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