Don’t hold your breath waiting for the 49ers to add an edge rusher this offseason.
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco threw cold water on two of the names most frequently connected to San Francisco: free agent edge rusher Joey Bosa and Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher Alex Highsmith.
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“I still don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon,” Maiocco said. “In fact, I really don’t think it’s going to happen, period.”
The most obvious name in these conversations has always been Bosa, given his brother Nick plays for the 49ers. But Maiocco doesn’t see that connection leading anywhere. He pointed to Nick Bosa’s recent public comments about his brother as a signal that Joey may be closer to retirement than a comeback.
“Listening to Nick Bosa and hearing him and taking him at face value, it certainly didn’t sound like there’s any sense of urgency for Joey Bosa to get out there and continue his football career,” Maiocco said. “If in late May, early June, his mind is more on golf than football, it leads me to believe that there’s a really good chance that he ends up retiring.”
It’s unclear what Bosa, who had five sacks for the Buffalo Bills in 15 games this past season, would command in a new deal. General manager John Lynch, though, noted earlier this offseason that the older Bosa would be too expensive for the 49ers.
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The other name that’s picked up steam is Highsmith, who has drawn trade interest after a 9.5-sack season in 13 games for Pittsburgh in 2025. The 28-year-old still has productive years ahead of him, and Maiocco acknowledged the trade cost probably wouldn’t be prohibitive, noting San Francisco acquired Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa for a third-round pick this offseason.
But Maiocco outlined two bigger concerns. The first is availability: Highsmith has missed 10 games over the past two seasons, including stints with a high ankle sprain and a groin injury in both 2024 and 2025. The second, and more significant issue, is the cap math. Highsmith is scheduled to make $14.5 million in base salary this season with and $15.5 million in base salary in 2027.
“They could fit in a couple of huge contracts, but that would run counter to what they did in order to create that cap space and the goal behind creating that cap space — and that is to clear room for 2027,” Maiocco said. “The $14.5 million of the base salary for Alex Highsmith would be something where that would be 14.5 million that they don’t have for next year.”
The 49ers enter 2026 with roughly $71 million in cap space, but the front office has been deliberate about preserving that flexibility. Edge rusher is a legit need for the team, though, as the younger Bosa is coming off a torn ACL, 2025 fifth-rounder Mykell Williams is also recovering from an ACL injury and Keion White is recovering from a shooting. However, it seems as though the team is content with this group, as well as Sam Okuayinonu and 2026 third-rounder Romello Height.
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For now, though, the message from one of the team’s most plugged-in reporters is pretty clear: the 49ers are going into training camp with what they have.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers unlikely to add pass rusher before training camp, per insider
