Former Ohio State Buckeyes EDGE Joey Bosa could be done in the NFL after playing one season with the Buffalo Bills during the 2025 season. Bosa played the first nine years of his career with the Los Angeles Chargers, who were in San Diego when they drafted him.
ESPN's Adam Schefter seemed to intimate that Bosa is done, denying that there's much of a likelihood that the San Francisco 49ers were bringing Joey on to play with his younger brother, Nick, who's been on the Niners since 2019.
“It is more likely than not that Joey Bosa has played his last NFL down. Now, again, could a situation like the 49ers come along that entices him enough to come out and play again? Yeah, absolutely. We saw it happen last year with Philip Rivers, so you never know when a player is fully done and when he’s not done. But the fact of the matter is, I think if the Niners wanted to pair those two together, it probably would have happened already. I think if Joey Bosa wanted to play football, it probably would have happened already," Schefter said on his podcast.
Nick may have tipped off Joey's retirement before Schefter even commented on the matter, saying, "Yeah, I think he's working on his golf game right now. I don't think he's thinking too much about football."
Of course, in this era of the NFL, retirements aren't rock-solid commitments. Philip Rivers, as Schefter noted, made one of the most shocking returns to the league of all time in 2025, stepping in for the Indianapolis Colts to fill in at the QB spot. LA Rams legend Aaron Donald may be inspired to return to the franchise he won a Super Bowl with to play alongside Myles Garrett, who was recently acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Cleveland Browns.
Even if Bosa doesn't suit up during the 2026 season, hell, even if he announces that he's done, there's no guarantee that'd be the case.
Chargers need to rebuild bridge with Joey Bosa to enable a return
Of course, Bosa left LA on strange terms with the organization. Bosa commented on spending more time with his Buffalo Bills teammates off the field than he ever did with his Chargers teammates. There was something about the locker room that was awry.
Whatever it was, Jim Harbaugh wasn't involved. Despite coaching TTUN during Bosa's final year in Scarlet and Gray, the two always had a strong relationship. Harbaugh refused to let anyone call Bosa "washed," while, in turn, Bosa always celebrated the culture Harbaugh promoted in his NFL return after leaving the Wolverines in disarray after their 2023/2024 CFP title win.
Harbaugh is the key to rebuilding the Bosa bridge. Of course, it'd take Bosa accepting that he won't have the same role. If he could do that, Bosa has an obvious landing spot to end his career properly; assuming, of course, his one-year stop in Western New York wasn't exactly that for him.
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