Nick Bosa confirms suspicions surrounding Joey Bosa’s NFL future and it puts even more pressure on the 49ers star
San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa was asked about the rumors that he could finally team up with his brother Joey Bosa, but it’s not something that sounds likely at this point in time.
As the San Francisco 49ers get into training camp and prepare for the start of the 2026 season, the return of star pass rusher Nick Bosa will be a big storyline after suffering a torn right ACL in Week 3 last season that forced him to miss the rest of the season.
Bosa was full go at the start of training camp on Sunday and not one of the players placed on the PUP list on Saturday. That was major news about his return, but it’s not the only piece of news surrounding a Bosa that impacts the 49ers’ pass rush.
Nick Bosa closes the door on the idea of the 49ers adding Joey Bosa to the roster
On Monday, Nick Bosa joined Murph & Markus, via The Sports Leader on YouTube, and answered some questions about his recovery and the state of the team with camp now underway. The final question asked to Nick involved his brother Joey and whether or not the 49ers would explore signing the veteran free agent to pair the Bosa Brothers together.
“Joey might need to start training if that’s going to be the case,” Nick hesitantly said. Brian Murphy responded asking if they should keep their phones on for any updates, to which Bosa replied “No, probably not.”
That pretty much closes the door on the idea of the 49ers adding Joey Bosa to the roster ahead of the 2026 season. The entire reason this became a story in the first place is because ESPN’s Adam Schefter threw it out as an option when exploring what Joey’s NFL career could look like in regards to a potential 11th season.
“It is more likely than not that Joey Bosa has played his last NFL down,” Schefter said on his podcast. “Now, again, could a situation like the 49ers come along that entices him enough to come out and play again? Yeah, absolutely. We saw it happen last year with Philip Rivers, so you never know when a player is fully done and when he’s not done. But the fact of the matter is, I think if the Niners wanted to pair those two together, it probably would have happened already. I think if Joey Bosa wanted to play football, it probably would have happened already.”
If it’s indeed the end for Joey’s career, we wish nothing but the best for the five-time Pro Bowl selection. And if he continues playing, we wish him the best as well, though it doesn’t sound like that’ll be happening in San Francisco.
It’s on Nick Bosa to lift the 49ers pass rush in 2026
If the 49ers really want to make some noise in the NFC West and contend in the playoffs, the team will need a healthy Nick Bosa back off the edge rushing the passer. Having him back in camp is already encouraging enough, but this reaction from left tackle Trent Williams adds even more excitement for Bosa’s return.
“I can’t really tell he had an injury and came back from anything,” Williams said. “Most people with a knee injury that catastrophic, when they come back, you can see something, right? You can see it in the atrophy, you can see it in the muscle of the leg. You see something. And Bosa looks better than he did last year.”
Linebacker Fred Warner, who’s back at camp after recovering from his own season-ending injury, noted Bosa is “one of the hardest workers” he’s seen and Bosa will only use this latest injury as internal motivation going into this season.
“I’m going to ease into it throughout camp and eventually get thrown into team stuff and rip the Band-Aid off and get back to doing what I love,” Bosa explained. “… I’ve been watching all year and then obviously all offseason I’ve been waiting. You just get super hungry and excited to get back to it.”
For a player that’s no had multiple major injuries in his seven-year career, it’s hard to imagine if he can return to the same level of player he once was. Based on the reactions from his teammates, that might be a reality and it’ll be a lift the 49ers desperately need.