When the Buffalo Bills made the expected move of releasing Von Miller, that right there should have shown that the Bills were going to pursue another veteran off the edge. Even though Greg Rousseau got extended to a four-year, $80 million to become the future top edge rusher in Buffalo, Brandon Beane still needed to find a replacement for Miller.
The last player I expected (and maybe most Bills fans as well) that the Bills would acquire was Joey Bosa. He spent nine seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers but was released due to cap space issues. A lot of fans thought that he would’ve stayed in California and went up north to San Francisco to join his brother on the 49ers. Nope, a lot of us were wrong.
On a late night during the free agency frenzy, the Bills came into the sweepstakes and agreed to a one-year deal with $12.6 million deal with Bosa. It was reported by Dianna Russini that both the 49ers and Dolphins were in on trying to sign Bosa. Instead, Bosa signed with a true championship contender in Buffalo.
While Bosa had a fantastic start to his career, injuries are heavily involved in his journey. Even though he has been ferocious on the field, his production the last couple of years has been down bad due to various injuries. It was one of the main concerns that fans noticed when the Bills signed him, and those concerns were validated when it was reported that Bosa had already suffered a calf injury prior to OTAs which would keep him out until training camp.
Signing of Joey Bosa still viewed as good one for Bills despite early injury
Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report ranked the 25 best moves of the NFL offseason and Davenport is still a believer in the Bills signing Bosa. Here’s what Davenport said about the Bills signing Bosa:
"The Bills finished the 2024 season with just 39 sacks, so adding pop to the pass-rush was an offseason priority. There’s no guarantee that Joey Bosa will do that—the 29-year-old has missed 23 games over the past three seasons and hasn’t had double-digit sacks in a season since 2021. But Bosa hit that benchmark four times in his first six seasons, and the Bills are only on the hook for $12.5 million over one year."Gary Davenport, Bleacher Report
Beane learned his lesson of signing a veteran player with a bit of an injury history to a long-term deal and it would’ve been tough to see him repeat history. Instead, he managed to bring Bosa to Buffalo for atleast one season and at just $12.6 million, it’s a great deal if it pays off. Key phrase, if it pays off.