![\"Kyle](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/kyle-shanahan-san-francisco-49ers.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
(Photo by Nick Cammett\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The San Francisco 49ers<\/a> are in a win-now window and have roughly $71 million in cap space for potential one-year contracts, per Over the Cap<\/a>. As a result, could the Niners look at veteran free agents to bolster the team for the 2026 season? <\/p>\n In a July 2 article by Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports<\/a>, he noted two veterans who would make sense for the 49ers on both offense and defense. Regarding the offense, DeArdo matches Kevin Zeitler to beef up the Niners\u2019 offensive line, and he chose San Francisco as the destination for veteran edge rusher Joey Bosa. <\/p>\n Bosa showed last season with the\u00a0Buffalo Bills<\/a> that he has plenty left in the tank. During the 2025 season, the former Bills pass rusher played 563 snaps,\u00a0leading to a 79.3 overall PFF defensive grade<\/a>.<\/p>\n He generated 47 total pressures as a pass rusher, including five sacks, 30 hurries, and 12 hits. Against the run, he recorded 22 solo tackles while forcing five fumbles on the season.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Zeitler spent last season with the Tennessee Titans<\/a>, playing 909 offensive snaps and earning a 74.5 overall PFF grade<\/a>. Moreover, he allowed 16 total pressures, four sacks, and two QB hits to opposing pass rushers while also receiving four penalties.<\/p>\n Why Kevin Zeitler, Joey Bosa Make Sense for Niners<\/p>\n Regarding Zeitler, DeArdo explained why the veteran offensive lineman makes sense for the Niners. <\/p>\n \u201cWhile a reunion with the\u00a0Browns<\/a>\u00a0also makes sense, the 36-year-old Zeitler would likely prefer to play on a team that has legitimate Super Bowl aspirations,\u201d DeArdo wrote.\u201cIn San Francisco, Zeitler would likely be a better option at starting left guard than\u00a0Connor Colby, a 2025 seventh-round pick.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cZeitler, who has blocked for five 1,000-yard rushers over the course of his career, would fit right in inside Kyle Shanahan\u2019s run-heavy offensive scheme.\u201d <\/p>\n Meanwhile, as for Bosa, who has been linked the entire offseason to the Niners as many would like to see him team up with his younger brother Nick Bosa, DeArdo noted why the veteran pass rusher is an ideal fit for the 49ers. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are rumblings that the soon-to-be 31-year-old Bosa\u00a0is considering retirement,\u201d DeArdo added in his article. \u201cIf he decides to play an 11th season, Bosa \u2014 who led the NFL<\/a> with five forced fumbles last season \u2014 will likely have several suitors that may include the\u00a049ers, who employ his younger brother.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSpeaking of Nick Bosa, he and fellow pass rusher\u00a0Mykel Williams\u00a0are returning from season-ending ACL tears, so adding a player of Joey Bosa\u2019s caliber would give the 49ers some much-needed depth at one of football\u2019s most important positions.\u201d<\/p>\n Insider on Joey Bosa\u2019s Future Amid 49ers Speculation<\/p>\n Despite the speculation linking the older Bosa to San Francisco, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter recently noted that retirement could be an option for the former Los Angeles Chargers<\/a>\u00a0star if he doesn\u2019t get the ideal situation.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have brought this up because Nick Bosa is out there, and it would always be fantastic to see Nick and Joey Bosa playing together,\u201d\u00a0Schefter said on the June 23 edition of \u201cThe Adam Schefter Podcast.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u201cBut Joey Bosa is a free agent right now, and Joey Bosa has made so much money in his career that I think some people have wondered whether we will see him play in the NFL again.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it is more likely than not, to use a phrase that shows up sometimes when we say that here and on other sites, 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.\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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Nick Cammett\/Getty Images) The San Francisco 49ers are in a win-now window and have roughly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":935312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,6,1161,252,2624,2623],"class_list":["post-935311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco-49ers","tag-49ers","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sanfrancisco","tag-sanfrancisco49ers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116854582433031459","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935311","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=935311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/935312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}