After 10 NFL seasons, it appears that Joey Bosa might be ready to hang up his cleats for good. There's been some speculation that the five-time Pro Bowler is considering retirement, and if that's the case, he'd be walking away from the game at the age of 30.
No one knows for sure what Bosa is going to do, but based on how this offseason has played out, it wouldn't be a total surprise to see him retire.
Here are three signs that retirement might be coming for the third overall pick from the 2016 NFL Draft.
1. Joey is not thinking about football right now
Bosa is currently a free agent and if he was interested in returning for another NFL season, you'd think that he would have made a free agent visit with at least one team this offseason, but that hasn't been the case. There's been some speculation that Joey might be interested in joining his brother Nick in San Francisco, but the younger Bosa brother shot that rumor down last month.
Back on May 28, Nick was asked if Joey might end up signing with the 49ers and he gave an interesting answer.
"I think he's working on his golf game right now, so I don't think he's thinking too much about football," Nick said.
Basically, it sounds like Joey decided to ignore free agency this year so that he could spend some time improving himself on the links. There's certainly a chance that Joey could end up playing another season, but right now, Nick's answer would seem to indicate that Joey just isn't interested in football at this moment, although that could obviously change as we get closer to the start of the season.
2. The report from ESPN
Based on Nick Bosa's answer alone, it's hard to say if Joey is actually thinking about retirement, but ESPN's Adam Schefter added some fuel to the fire this week during the latest episode of his podcast.
"It is more likely than not that Joey Bosa has played his last NFL down," Schefter said.
The ESPN insider did point out that the chance to play with his brother might convince Joey to return for one more season, but even that would be a long shot.
"Now, again, could a situation like the 49ers come along that entices him enough to come out and play again? Yeah, absolutely," Schefter said. "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."
The 49ers recorded just 20 sacks last season, which was the fewest in the NFL, but they were ravaged by injuries, including one to Nick Bosa, who missed 14 games with a torn ACL. Heading into training camp, the 49ers are now healthy, so they're not really in a spot where they necessarily need to add depth at the position just yet. The 49ers will probably want to see how everyone looks in training camp before they consider making any additions to their pass-rushing room.
3. Joey Bosa has a long history of injuries
The biggest reason Bosa might be thinking about hanging it up for good is because he's been dealing with injuries for nearly his entire career. Bosa has missed at least two games due to injury in seven of his 10 seasons.
The injury troubles started during his rookie year and they haven't let up since then. After the Chargers made him the third overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Bosa ended up missing the first four games of the season due to a hamstring injury. However, he did bounce back in a major way with 10.5 sacks during a 2016 season that saw him take home the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
Bosa has also dealt with plenty of injuries in more recent years. Here's what the past four seasons have looked like for him:
- 2022: During the 2022 season, Bosa was on the field for the first three games, but he was placed on injured reserve after tearing his groin in Week 3. The injury knocked Bosa out for 12 games, but he was eventually able to return for the Chargers' final two games of the season.
- 2023: In 2023, Bosa made it through the first half of the season, but then he sprained his right foot during a Week 11 game against the Packers. Bosa was eventually placed on IR, which caused him to miss the rest of the regular season.
- 2024: In 2024, things got off to a rough start for Bosa. He injured his hip in a Week 3 game against the Steelers and that injury caused him to miss three games. Although Bosa eventually recovered, his production did go down when he returned to the field. In the 11 games after his return, Bosa only had three total sacks. In three games before his injury, Bosa had two sacks. So Bosa did play in 14 games, but he had his lowest sack production in his career for any season where he played at least six games.
- 2025: Bosa, who spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Chargers, ended up signing with the Bills last season. During his one year in Buffalo, he missed two games due to a hamstring injury, although one of the games came in Week 18 when the Bills were resting their starters to prepare for the playoffs. Bosa was on the injury report that week and missed two practices due to a lingering hamstring injury.
Bosa hasn't topped seven sacks since his age-26 season in 2021 when he tallied 10.5 sacks. During his injury-filled seasons from 2022 through 2024, Bosa averaged just 4.67 sacks per year. When he's healthy, Bosa can still be productive and he proved that last year: Not only did he total five sacks with the Bills, but he also led the NFL with five forced fumbles.
The problem is that staying healthy hasn't been easy for Bosa.
The former Ohio State star has had an incredibly successful career, but with Father Time and his own injury history working against him, it won't be surprising at all if he decides to ride off into the sunset this offseason.
