Where does Joey Bosa End Up After His Release?

After being released yesterday by the Chargers, five time pro bowler and former defensive rookie of the year Joey Bosa will hit free agency for the first time ever since he was drafted by the Chargers in 2016. 

With Bosa currently having a $36 million cap hit heading into the 2025/26 season, the figure was never going to be matched by Los Angeles, leaving him with the freedom of testing free agency for the first time in his career. Being only 29 years old, and coming off another great year it's no doubt that teams will be queuing up for Bosa come free agency, but here’s the three teams that could pick him up.

The San Francisco 49ers

As soon as the news broke that Bosa will be relieved of his duties in LA, San Francisco was the first team that popped into everyone's head, and for one reason only. With Joey’s brother also five time pro bowler and former defensive player of the year Nick Bosa being the core player on the 49ers defensive line, it would be a dream for them to reunite the Bosa brothers, and have arguably the scariest defensive line in the league. But they very well could make their dream a reality.

With the recent chatter around Brandon Aiyuk and a potential trade, the 49ers could potentially move over $10 million in cap space, bringing their overall cap space to around $45 million, just enough to bring Bosa to the bay. Although one issue still arises. The 49ers are currently in contract debates with Brock Purdy and his team over a contract extension which could be worth up to $40 million a year, leaving little to no space for a player like Bosa to join the team.

Bringing Bosa to the bay would be an enormously hard task for the 49ers, but had they decide to use some of the darks arts involving Purdy, and manage to move Aiyuk during the offseason, they could have a chance at getting him for maybe two years. The biggest chance the 49ers have overall is if they plan to utilise their next two franchise tags on Purdy, but with the cap space not being their best friend in this situation, Bosa to San Francisco may be the dream we could only ever wish for.

The Arizona Cardinals

Currently the Cardinals have the fourth most amount of cap space heading into the 2025/26 season, and are in a big need for an elite edge rusher in order to push them over the hump, and potentially to be a decent playoff contender. Here enters Joey Bosa. Bosa originally took a big pay cut in order to play for the Chargers last year dropping down to $25 million a year, but his recent alleged demands of $35 million still may favour the Cardinals and their $70 million plus cap margin.

With the hunger and drive to finally become a playoff team, a player like Joey Bosa is perfect for Arizona, and a player they can simply not fumble. He still has the ability and skills to be one of the best edge rushers in the league, and with a not so attractive depth chart on the defense, a player like Bosa could add some much needed aggression and pizzazz to the Cardinals locker room.

A 70 million plus cap space gives the Cardinals a much needed freedom to evaluate the top players in this year's free agency, and should definitely pounce when they have the chance. With Bosa still having a good four or five years left in the tank, Arizona could be the perfect second home for Bosa to receive his already spectacular career.

The Detroit Lions

And last but not least, the Detroit Lions. A heart breaking year for the motor city ended in a second round loss to the Commanders, ending their highly anticipated playoff campaign, leaving players and staff in tears as ‘their year’ was over so quickly. But with the 2025/26 season being the season for vindication and redemption for Detroit, a defensive fiend like Joey Bosa across from all star Aidan Hutchinson would be a force to be weakened with, wreaking havoc on the league as a whole. And it's scarily likely to happen.

Somehow, the Lions have $51 million in cap space with an already elite team across the board, but with Detroit eyes set on another elite pass rusher to complete their defensive line this season, the recent news of Joey Bosa’s release will set off alarm bells in every Lions fans' heads. For the cheap price of $35 million, the Lions by far have one of the best chances at picking up the five time all pro. With an already special, playoff stature team, Bosa is likely to favour a team like Detroit over a team like Arizona, potentially even taking a lesser salary to go to a playoff team, and would be the final piece of the puzzle for Dan Campbell’s Lions to get over their playoff woes.

Whoever gets the privilege to pickup Bosa during free agency will not only get a stud on the field but also a dependable and knowledgeable player, for the price of $35 million, will any of these teams bite the bullet and take their chance on one of the best edge rushers in the game?