If you are a Minnesota Vikings enthusiast who had your fingers crossed that the team could sign EDGE rusher Joey Bosa, it’s time to reevaluate.
Reporting emerged Wednesday suggesting Bosa is likely to retire, and if so, Minnesota would be forced to examine another OLB option — if it needs one in the first place.
Veteran EDGE Market Gets Thinner before Training Camp
Report: Bosa May Retire
ESPN’s Adam Schefter spilled the beans on Tuesday, with NFL training camps about five weeks away. He said, “It is more likely than not that Joey Bosa has played his last NFL down. 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.”
Bosa has lived sideways in the Vikings rumor mill from the minute Minnesota traded Jonathan Greenard to the Philadelphia Eagles in April.
The Career if This Is It
Bosa entered the NFL as the third overall pick in 2016, the day that Minnesota drafted Laquon Treadwell. Since then, he’s logged five Pro Bowls and won Defensive Rookie of the Year.
A look at his Pro Football Focus resume:
2016: 86.6 Total | 81.9 Pass Rush | 85.2 Run Def
2017: 88.8 Total | 91.3 Pass Rush | 63.5 Run Def
2018: 71.5 Total | 70.8 Pass Rush | 63.6 Run Def
2019: 89.6 Total | 90.3 Pass Rush | 73.1 Run Def
2020: 90.2 Total | 90.5 Pass Rush | 83.1 Run Def
2021: 85.8 Total | 90.3 Pass Rush | 68.4 Run Def
2022: 76.0 Total | 84.2 Pass Rush | 74.2 Run Def
2023: 78.4 Total | 80.3 Pass Rush | 70.7 Run Def
2024: 61.1 Total | 64.8 Pass Rush | 67.4 Run Def
2025: 74.6 Total | 85.5 Pass Rush | 52.0 Run Def
And his volume statistics:
2016: 11 Sacks | 59 Pressures | 11 QB Hits | 37 QB Hurries
2017: 13 Sacks | 75 Pressures | 11 QB Hits | 51 QB Hurries
2018: 7 Sacks | 38 Pressures | 5 QB Hits | 26 QB Hurries
2019: 12 Sacks | 72 Pressures | 17 QB Hits | 43 QB Hurries
2020: 8 Sacks | 61 Pressures | 22 QB Hits | 31 QB Hurries
2021: 10 Sacks | 69 Pressures | 9 QB Hits | 50 QB Hurries
2022: 3 Sacks | 18 Pressures | 4 QB Hits | 11 QB Hurries
2023: 7 Sacks | 24 Pressures | 3 QB Hits | 14 QB Hurries
2024: 6 Sacks | 39 Pressures | 10 QB Hits | 23 QB Hurries
2025: 5 Sacks | 54 Pressures | 13 QB Hits | 36 QB Hurries
Bosa ranks 10th in the league in sacks over the last 10 seasons. The Big Lead‘s Michael Moraitis noted Wednesday, “Bosa’s career has been marred by injury, with the Ohio State product missing four or more contests in five of his first eight seasons in the NFL.”
“The veteran has managed to stay relatively healthy over the past two seasons, missing five games in that span, but his sack production just hasn’t been the same.”
Remaining Vikings Options
For the Vikings’ sake, Bosa is not the only free-agent pass rusher on the market. If the retirement reporting comes to fruition, wiping him off the wire, Minnesota can still investigate these veterans sometime this summer:
- Derek Barnett
- Jadeveon Clowney
- Marcus Davenport
- Leonard Floyd
- Von Miller
- Yannick Ngakoue
- Haason Reddick
- Kyle Van Noy
Fans would be happy with most of the names, especially Clowney, who might now be the top EDGE available. Before the Bosa news, Clowney or Bosa felt like a coin flip for folks’ preferences.
How about Golday or Ingram-Dawkins?
In April, the Vikings used a 2nd-Round pick on Cincinnati’s Jake Golday, a rookie listed as an inside linebacker on most draft scouting reports. Soon after, it became apparent that Minnesota might use him for OLB duties in addition to his ILB title. Vikings coaches have already compared Golday to Andrew Van Ginkel, who is an OLB-ILB amalgam.
Moreover, Minnesota could fully convert second-year defensive lineman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins to OLB. He was drafted as a defensive tackle in Round 5 in 2025; hints from minicamp imply that the Vikings are exploring his utility on the EDGE. If so, between Golday and Ingram-Dawkins, Minnesota may not need a free-agent OLB at all.
New general manager Nolan Teasley has about $13 million in cap space if he wishes to sign another pass rusher.
Bosa will turn 31 next month — quite early for full retirement.
