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McAfee wonders if Bosa could join brother with 49ers (2:12)
Pat McAfee reacts to the Los Angeles Chargers releasing Joey Bosa and wonders if he would be able to sign with the 49ers to pair with his brother Nick. (2:12)
LOS ANGELES — For two seasons, outside linebacker Joey Bosa often spoke as if he knew his time with the Chargers could be coming to an end.
It appeared that way at the end of the 2023 season when Bosa played in nine games — after dealing with foot, hamstring and toe injuries — and had a cap hit of upwards of $30 million. He even told then-rookie teammate Tuli Tuipulotu at the end of that season they might have played their final game together.
But in a surprise to some, Bosa was back in 2024. He agreed to take a pay cut to stay with the Chargers, saying he wanted to be a “Charger for life” and finish what he started nine years ago in San Diego.
“I want to win. I want to be on this team. I want another shot with the guys in this room, especially Khalil [Mack],” Bosa said last June. “And winning football games is more important to me right now than making some extra money. So I think we have a great opportunity here, and who knows, maybe I’ll have a great year this year, and then things can change down the road.”
But 2024 was another injury-marred year for Bosa. He technically played in 14 games, his most since 2021, but Bosa was often limited. He began the year looking like the dominant version of himself, finishing with seven tackles, a forced fumble, a sack and four quarterback pressures in L.A.’s Week 1 win over the Raiders.
“He is that player,” coach Jim Harbaugh said after the game. “Saw it in the production, in the tackles, in the hustle. He was great against the run and unblockable in the pass; a huge game.”
From there, Bosa played 16 snaps over the next two games due to a glute strain that affected his sciatic nerve and caused what he said was “some of the worst pain I’ve ever dealt with.”
Bosa didn’t play again until Week 8 against the New Orleans Saints. Against the Saints, he played 18 snaps and was limited for much of the rest of the season.
He played more than 40 snaps five times in 2024, including postseason. Bosa played 49.6% of the Chargers’ regular season defensive snaps last season, the lowest of his career. He had five sacks in 14 games compared to 6.5 sacks in nine games in 2023.
“I feel like I’ve been letting my team down by missing these games,” Bosa, 29, said last season. “Letting everybody down, letting coaches down. Letting the organization down. Letting myself down and it just sucks how these years have gone, the last few years.”
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The numbers behind Joey Bosa’s Chargers tenure
With the Chargers releasing Joey Bosa, check out some of the key stats and figures from his time with the team.
Despite Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz expressing public affection for Bosa, his release, which came Wednesday, always seemed inevitable. Bosa’s $36.5 million cap hit for 2025 was unjustifiable, considering his recent struggles to stay on the field.
Bosa’s talent has never been questioned, and his last game as a Charger was the perfect reflection of that. Bosa had a team-high six pressures and a sack in the Chargers playoff loss to the Houston Texans. Still, with no guaranteed money and one of the largest cap hits in the NFL, the release was anticipated and saves the Chargers $25.36 million, giving them $90.6 million in cap space ahead of free agency.
With Bosa gone, third-year outside linebacker Tuipulotu will likely see an increased role. Tuipulotu led the Chargers with 8.5 sacks in 2024.
As for Bosa’s future, he can fill the void for any team in need of a pass rusher. When healthy, he is still impactful, but being healthy has been his most significant hurdle in recent years.
Last June, Bosa said he’d had conversations about playing with his brother, Nick, the San Francisco 49ers All-Pro outside linebacker, though he characterized those conversations as not being serious.
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“It’d be cool at some point,” Joey Bosa said. “I always thought of myself being somebody that will play here and retire here, which I think not many people do on one team and I think would be a cool thing to accomplish, but you never know. I’m going to worry about this year first.”
Bosa was selected by the Chargers with the No. 3 pick in the 2016 draft. His Chargers legacy includes 72 career sacks, ranking him second in franchise history behind only Leslie O’Neal (105.5).
Bosa was named Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2016 after posting 10.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss. He quickly emerged as one of the league’s best edge rushers, making four Pro Bowls in his first six seasons. He set an NFL record with 19 sacks in his first 20 games. He exits as the Chargers longest-tenured player.
Now the question becomes where his next tenure will begin.
