Bills' Joey Bosa looks 'terrific' and getting hype in first season away from Chargers

When the Los Angeles Chargers let Joey Bosa go this offseason, the loose idea was that he wouldn’t play a major role for a direct rival in 2025 and beyond. 

As it turns out, perhaps that line of thinking wasn’t right. 

Bosa went on to join Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, positioning himself as an impact player on another AFC contender in the way of Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers. 

Now, he’s ranked 26th overall on a 60 most important players list from Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame ahead of the season’s kickoff: 

“Bosa has looked terrific throughout the summer, primarily staying healthy and playing like a real addition to a team looking for its first Super Bowl win. Still, Bosa is 30 years old and has played only 28 games over the past three years, limited by numerous injuries. If he can be healthy in January and help Buffalo get a pass rush on Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, the one-year, $12.6 million contract is worth it. If he can be a legitimate factor during the regular season and post 10-plus sacks for the first time since 2021, all the better.”

Bosa battled nagging injuries again last year while appearing in 14 games with nine starts. He hasn’t started more than nine games in a season since 2021. 

The Chargers elected to go with some big cap savings while letting go of Bosa. That, and tasking Tuli Tuipulotu to step up big after spending quite a bit of cap space on bringing back Khalil Mack for what could be his retirement tour. 

While Bosa apparently battled some sort of injury already with the Bills, he appears to be in a good spot heading into the season opener and now receives hype as a borderline top-25 overall player in terms of importance.