![\"Joey](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/joey-bosa-buffalo-bills.jpg\")
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(Photo by Timothy T Ludwig\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The San Francisco 49ers<\/a> are looking to strengthen their pass rush ahead of the 2026 season, aiming to add depth at the edge rather than relying heavily on just a couple of players.<\/p>\n Veteran edge rusher Joey Bosa, who spent last season with the Buffalo Bills<\/a>, has emerged as a potential target. In 2025, Bosa earned a 79.3 overall PFF grade<\/a>, ranking 17th among 115 qualified edge defenders.<\/p>\n He particularly stood out as a pass rusher, posting an 88.7 grade in that area, while his run-defense grade lagged at 54.6. Over the season, Bosa generated 47 pressures, including five sacks, 12 hits, and 30 hurries. He also contributed 22 solo tackles and forced five fumbles.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, recently, 49ers general manager John Lynch put cold water on that speculation.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that would make Mama Bosa happy, but I don\u2019t know if we can afford him,\u201d Lynch said (h\/t\u00a0David Lombardi of the SF Standard<\/a>).<\/p>\n However, David Lombardi, who covers the 49ers for the San Francisco Standard, speculates whether the Niners could wait after the draft to see whether they see eye to eye with Bosa on his asking price. <\/p>\n \u201cThere is a nonzero chance the 49ers exit the draft without picking up a defensive lineman projected to make the 53\u2011man roster, leaving holes in their rotation,\u201d Lombardi said on April 4 on his YouTube channel<\/a>. \u201cIf that happens, they might turn their attention back to free agency with a different price point in mind. <\/p>\n \u201cRight now, they don\u2019t see eye to eye with Joey Bosa, but after the draft, when signings don\u2019t count against the compensatory formula, the 49ers could potentially reach an agreement with someone like Bosa.\u201d<\/p>\n 49ers Insider Doesn\u2019t Hold Back on Joey Bosa Speculation<\/p>\n San Francisco could use that production from the older Bosa. Aside from the financial aspect Lynch laid out, Grant Cohn, who covers the 49ers for On SI, says he doesn\u2019t fit the profile that defensive coordinator Raheem Morris wants.<\/p>\n \u201cI just don\u2019t think the 49ers are interested in Joey Bosa,\u201d\u00a0Cohn said on March 24 on his YouTube channel<\/a>. \u201cMaybe Nick is. Maybe Cheryl Bosa is interested in this, you know, teaming together. I just don\u2019t see why Raheem Morris would want it. Seems like what Raheem Morris is looking for is a very specific type of player, an outside linebacker. That is not Joey Bosa.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way Raheem Morris usually coaches his defense, I\u2019m not a Raheem Morris expert, but I\u2019ve followed him when he was in the NFC West with the\u00a0Rams<\/a>. He was a head coach. He wants guys on the edge who can drop into coverage. That\u2019s a necessary skill; it\u2019s part of his scheme when he\u2019s calling coverages and blitzes.<\/p>\n \u201cHe wants guys on the edge who can drop into coverage, not once a season but two or three times a game. He already has one edge guy who can\u2019t do that in Nick Bosa.\u201d<\/p>\n Joey Bosa Would Be Ideal Fit for Niners<\/p>\n While Cohn doesn\u2019t believe Joey fits the profile the 49ers need at edge, NBC Sports Bay Area\u2019s Matt Maiocco recently shared his thoughts on the potential move for the Niners to add another pass rusher, noting it makes sense.<\/p>\n \u201c[The] 49ers still have a little bit of money to be able to add an edge rusher,\u201d\u00a0Maiocco said in a\u00a0March 14\u00a0video from his YouTube channel<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cI would think the guy at the top of the list is Joey Bosa\u2026 To me, Joey Bosa makes sense.\u00a0I do not think he\u00a0is going to\u00a0be as costly as he was a year ago, when he accounted for about $13 million\u00a0for the\u00a0one season with the Buffalo Bills.<\/p>\n \u201cJoey Bosa turns 31 in July. He started 15 games for Buffalo last year and played 64 percent of the snaps. He had five sacks and five forced fumbles. So he can still play. The question is whether he is an every-down player at this stage in his career. He pretty much was with the Buffalo Bills.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on 49ers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig\/Getty Images) The San Francisco 49ers are looking to strengthen their pass rush…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,6,1161,252,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-854988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-san-francisco","12":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","13":"tag-sanfrancisco","14":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116352023541090542","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}