Bolts From The Blue
Joey Bosa is set to make over $36 million in 2025, a number that will surely push the Chargers to have him restructure or trade him for value.
Just like this time a year ago, the Chargers have a lot of tough decisions to make this offseason in hopes of building this franchise into a team that not only expects to make the playoffs, but to win them, as well.
One of the biggest, if not THE biggest, will be to decide the fate of Joey Bosa in Los Angeles. The longest-tenured Charger is set to have a cap hit of $36,471,668 in 2025, the second-largest cap hit for a player that doesn’t play quarterback. It’s due to this massive cap hit that CBS Sports named Bosa as one of a handful of big-name players who could be cut or dealt sometime this offseason.
Bosa took a $7 million pay cut prior to the 2024 season to return to the Chargers and play alongside Khalil Mack under new defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. In 14 games played, Bosa finished with just five sacks, the least he’s ever recorded when playing 14 or more games. Over the past three seasons, Bosa has struggled with injuries, and while this was his least-injured since 2021, it was arguably the least productive he’s been in his career relative to his availability.
It’s gutting to admit, but Bosa does not look like he’s going to return anywhere close to his peak form anytime soon. I believe he’s a “lifer” with the Chargers and deserves to go out on his own terms, but he’s worth nowhere near the money he’s been paid in recent years. Bosa should know this, and he’ll have to balance whether he wants to end his career still in powder blue or if he thinks he can still make some money elsewhere in a fresh environment.
Knowing Bosa after all these years, I honestly don’t see him taking an increase in money elsewhere if it means picking up his life of the last nine years. That would be a tough call for anyone and now that he has a shot to be on a team that looks to be making the playoffs for the foreseeable future, I could very well see him accepting even less money to make sure he’s comfortable in the twilight of his career.
