Joey and Nick Bosa will not be teaming up on the 49ers’ defensive line after all.
Instead, the brothers will be a coast apart during the 2025 NFL season, as Joey agreed to a one-year, $12.6 million contract with the Buffalo Bills rather than an offer from the 49ers, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Tuesday, citing a source.
ESPN source: Five-time Pro-Bowl DE Joey Bosa reached agreement tonight on a one-year, $12.6 million deal with the Buffalo Bills. pic.twitter.com/u7R6wdDGRf
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 12, 2025
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The early stages of free agency have seen the 49ers lose a good chunk of their roster. And while Joey never was with the 49ers, it feels as if he is another on the long list of players who got away. Joey could have been teammates with his brother, Nick, for the first time since they were in high school. But Joey instead will be signing with the Bills.
Last week, the Los Angeles Chargers released Joey to create a salary-cap savings of more than $23 million for the upcoming season. The move opened the door for the reunion of the brothers, but it was not to be.
Joey, 29, played nine seasons with the Chargers after he arrived as the team’s No. 3 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He has been plagued by injuries throughout his professional career, sitting out 23 games over the past three seasons with a variety of ailments.
Nick was the No. 2 overall pick of the 49ers in the 2019 draft. After he won NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, Bosa signed the richest contract in 49ers history with a five-year, $170 million deal. The 49ers have been in search of an edge rusher to complement Nick, who has 62.5 regular-season sacks in 82 career games over six seasons. Veteran Leonard Floyd recorded 8.5 sacks last season after the 49ers signed him to a two-year, $20 million contract, but he was released Tuesday and reportedly is signing with the Atlanta Falcons.
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Joey has been productive throughout his career when he has been on the field. He has 72 sacks in 107 games, including four seasons of 10.5 or more sacks, and he is a five-time Pro Bowl performer.
The Bosa brothers had a chance to be teammates for the first time in more than a decade. Both attended Ohio State, though they did not play together in college. The only time they were on the same team was in 2012. That year also signaled a shift in the relationship of the brothers. Joey was one of the highest-recruited players in the country while starring at football powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Nick earned his way onto the varsity team as a freshman and started on the defensive line along with his brother.
“Their relationship was this turning point where they went from Nick being the annoying little brother to being best friends,” their mother, Cheryl Bosa, told NBC Sports Bay Area in 2019. “It was night and day, like flipping a switch. We were like, ‘Holy cow, what happened here?’
"It was awesome. It was a coming of age. Nick was not the pain-in the-butt little brother anymore, and Joey was not the big brother. It was really, really cool. Since then, honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen them get in an argument.”
It could be that this offseason represented the final chance for the Bosa brothers to team up again. And it leaves the 49ers with more work to do to piece together their rotation of defensive linemen.