Is Joey Bosa Really Considering Retirement? Inside the Pass Rusher’s Surprising Decision
Joey Bosa might be done.
According to a new report, the veteran edge rusher is seriously considering retirement, a stunning development for a player who was once the foundation of the Chargers defense and was supposed to give his current team a veteran presence on the edge. He’s still only 31 years old. He still has good football left in him on paper. He just may not want to play it anymore.
This is not coming out of nowhere. Bosa has battled injury after injury over the last four seasons. Hamstrings, foot, groin, core muscle, the list keeps getting longer. He has missed more than 30 games over that span. Even when he plays, he is rarely fully healthy, and you can see it in the snaps.
His brother Nick has openly talked about Joey’s mindset on the future, and the picture has not been pretty. Reports have suggested Joey is more dialed into his golf game than his football future at this point. That’s not a guy gearing up for a comeback season.
The frustrating part for any team paying him is the talent is still there when he is on the field. Bosa is a former Defensive Rookie of the Year, a multi-time Pro Bowler, and one of the most fundamentally sound pass rushers of his generation. When he gets to the quarterback, you remember exactly why teams have paid him.
The problem is he is barely getting there enough to justify a roster spot at his cap number. The math has been tough for a while. Now the body and the mind seem to be telling him the same thing.
If Bosa walks away, this is a graceful exit by NFL standards. He has made his money. He has the rings of accomplishment, the Pro Bowls, the All-Pro nods. He does not owe the sport another snap. Family men with Bosa’s resume are allowed to choose their bodies over one more contract.
For the league, this is a reminder that the wear and tear at edge rusher might be the worst in football. Linemen take constant punishment. Pass rushers absorb collisions on every snap. The position chews up bodies, and Bosa is the latest data point in that ugly trend.
The team built around his return will need to pivot quickly. Free agency is largely picked over. The trade market is the only realistic route to replace what Bosa was supposed to bring. Maxx Crosby has been floating around in trade chatter all offseason for a reason.
If Joey Bosa retires, remember the player at his peak. The pass-rush moves were a clinic. The motor was real. The IQ was elite. He had a Hall of Fame ceiling. Injuries kept it from being a Hall of Fame career, but he had a heck of a run.
Now we wait to see if he actually pulls the trigger.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
