A coach is never going to tell you he doesn’t want to sign a player who will improve his football team. However, you can’t just sign every player you want to because there’s not enough money to do so.
That, along with the development of younger players, is the main hurdle between the San Francisco 49ers and the potential of both Bosa brothers playing on the field together.
Kyle Shanahan Gets Blunt on Potentially Bringing Joey Bosa to San Francisco
49ers star edge rusher Nick Bosa came into the NFL in 2019 and has spent his entire seven-year career in San Francisco. He’s been one of the best players at his position during that time, earning a Defensive Player of the Year award, an All-Pro nod, and making five Pro Bowls.
His brother, Joey Bosa, entered the league in 2016 and has a similar resume. Joey won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2016 and has made five Pro Bowls. He played the first nine years of his career with the San Diego and then Los Angeles Chargers before spending last season in Buffalo.
Now, he’s a free agent and has been linked to the 49ers since March. While head coach Kyle Shanahan would love to have the Bosa brothers lining up alongside each other, he gave a rather blunt response on whether he thinks it could happen.
“I love signing good players,” Shanahan said. “I look at our team as, we kind of have our team, and anyone else we can figure out to bring, especially someone like that, that would be awesome. But that stuff’s not always possible.”
While the 49ers have over $72 million in cap space available for 2026, they are in the red by nearly $33 million in 2027 already and nearly $17 million in 2028. So, unless San Francisco gave Joey a lucrative one-year deal, it wouldn’t be able to afford him for the future. And with his injury history and age, a big contract can be risky.
The former Chargers star had a solid campaign last season, but nothing that was star-worthy. Bosa collected 29 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 16 quarterback hits, 5 sacks, and 5 forced fumbles in 15 games played. According to PFSN’s EDGE Impact Metric, he posted an impact score of 78.7, ranking 38th in the league.
However, before that, Bosa had played in 28 games over the previous three seasons, averaging fewer than 10 per year. During that span, he had a combined 14 sacks and 27 quarterback hits.
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To put that in context, the former Defensive Rookie of the Year had 42 quarterback hits and 23 sacks across his first two years in the league.
With the youth the 49ers have on the defensive line, their ability to develop it, their current cap situation, and Joey’s decline in play, the thought of bringing the second Bosa brother to San Francisco sounds fun, but it isn’t very feasible.
