The Chargers have moved on from Joey Bosa after nine seasons with the team.
On Wednesday evening, the Chargers announced that they were releasing edge rusher Joey Bosa after nine seasons. The former third-overall pick in the 2016 draft was the longest-tenured player on the Bolts and the last remaining member of the team who played in San Diego prior to the team’s move in 2017.
The move also saves the Chargers roughly $25 million in cap space.
The 29-year old leaves the Chargers ranking second all-time in sacks with 72 and became the fastest player in team history to record 50 sacks (67 games). Bosa was named the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2016 after posting 10.5 sacks and 17 tackles for loss before going on to make five Pro Bowls with the Bolts. His 19 sacks in his first 20 career games also set an NFL record.
we’ve released Joey Bosa
→ https://t.co/oxrEU8xhPu pic.twitter.com/6WLZ7eJp12
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) March 6, 2025
Prior to the 2020 season, the Chargers signed Bosa to a five-year, $135 million extension that made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history. Injuries unfortunately took a huge toll since as he’s played in just 56 games (with 44 starts) since signing the extension. Since 2020, he totaled just 32 sacks and 34 tackles for loss, good for averages of 6.4 and 6.8, respectively.
In Bosa’s final game with the Chargers, he led the team with six pressures and recorded a sack against the Houston Texans in this year’s wild card round. As an alternate, Bosa was also named to this year’s Pro Bowl Games after recording five sacks and five tackles for loss for the regular season.
Bosa has previously expressed that he’d like to play his entire career with the Chargers and that he knew the end was coming fast for him in the powder blue. With this move, there’s a chance Bosa calls it quits and decides to hang his cleats up for good. But if he believes he still has some good ball left in him, don’t be surprised to see him find a way to San Francisco to play with his younger brother, Nick.
In the end, we wish Bosa nothing but the best and we’ll miss him like crazy as a member of the Chargers.