Could the Chargers Welcome Back a Franchise Legend?

The Los Angeles Chargers have had plenty of tough decisions that had to be made during the tenure of Joe Hortiz and Jim Harbaugh. The first of these decisions dealt with the contracts of what was considered the "big four".

These four were Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa. They eventually decided to release Williams, while trading away Allen and retaining Mack and Bosa. Now two seasons later, Bosa had his final year with the team and his first year away from it.

Bosa signed with Buffalo during the 2025 offseason as one of their biggest free agent signings, as his contract was $12.6 million with the hope of Bosa being a mercenary pass rusher who can play meaningful pass rushing snaps to help reduce his chance of injury, which has been the main issue with Bosa during his Chargers tenure.

In his one season with Buffalo, the plan of having Bosa play fewer snaps to help reduce his chance of injury quickly changed, as he was needed to step into a bigger role, due to the Bills' lack of EDGE rusher talent. He showed that "he still has it," recording 47 pressures and five sacks during the regular season, being healthy for the majority of the season.

"They put a tight end on me!"

Blocking #Bills DE Joey Bosa with a rookie tight end seems.... not so smart 😂#BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/3l4FmNVbjZ
— Justin Siejak 📝 (@justinsiejak) September 16, 2025

Can Joey Bosa Return to the Los Angeles Chargers?

Bosa is going into his age 31 season and has been reported that he would dislike taking "less money" to play somewhere like San Francisco to unite with his brother and play together. Even with these caveats, also knowing his previous history of injury, the Chargers still have a need at EDGE rusher...yielding the conversation to begin with Bosa.

The Chargers currently only have Mack, Tuli Tuipolotu, Kyle Kennard and Bud Dupree on the roster, all of whom are likely to play a role in 2026. Kennard and Dupree were not good in 2025, giving very poor depth to a team that is rolling with a first-year defensive coordinator.

Mack missed four games last season, and the Bolts were forced to trade for Odafe Oweh, whom they let go in free agency. When all three of Oweh, Mack and Tuipolotu were on the field, their pressure rate skyrocketed. The same went for when Bosa was with the Chargers in 2024, as they had a package of Morgan Fox (could be now Teair Tart or Justin Eboigbe), Bosa, Mack and Tuli.

So, with a need at EDGE and money to spend, why should the Chargers not at least kick the tires on Bosa and see if he would like to come back to the team that drafted him?

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