Why 49ers injured star has a lot riding on the 2026 season
Since the San Francisco 49ers made him the No. 2 overall pick in 2019, Nick Bosa has been one of the most dominant edge rushers in football. He’s made five Pro Bowls, won the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year award after leading the NFL with 18.5 sacks and 48 quarterback hits, and has racked up 64.5 sacks and 20 forced fumbles over his first six seasons.
But Bosa enters 2026 with a lot of question marks surrounding his eighth NFL season. He’s coming off his third knee surgery — the second ACL tear to the same knee — after a 2025 season that ended just three games in. He’s also seen a dip in production when he has been healthy since that 2022 season.
This has all shaped Vic Tafur‘s belief that no player on the roster has more to prove this fall than Bosa in 2026. Tafur notes that Bosa is set to shoulder the pass rush while also guiding San Francisco’s younger edge rushers, and that his health ties directly into the team’s championship outlook:
The return of Bosa, linebacker Fred Warner and tight end George Kittle from injuries is a big reason this team has Super Bowl aspirations. Bosa, who turns 29 in October, is also going to need a new contract after this season, as the five-year deal he signed in 2023 has a $54.9 million salary-cap hit in 2027. If Bosa can show that he is still one of the best speed-to-power rushers in the NFL, the 49ers will be in for a successful season and Bosa in for another huge payday.
The contract Tafur references has already drawn scrutiny. Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon recently ranked Bosa’s five-year, $170 million extension — which included $122.5 million guaranteed — among the NFL’s five worst deals heading into 2026. Gagnon also pointed to Bosa’s production sliding from his DPOY peak (10.5 sacks in 2023, nine in 2024) before the ACL tear limited him to three games last season, and flagged that 2027 cap number as the largest for any defensive player in the league by a wide margin.
Bosa also won’t have the benefit of continuity on defense. Raheem Morris takes over as San Francisco’s fifth defensive coordinator in as many seasons, following DeMeco Ryans, Steve Wilks, Nick Sorensen and a second Robert Saleh stint. Morris inherits a unit that finished with a league-low 20 sacks last season while Bosa was sidelined, putting even more emphasis on getting its best pass rusher back on the field and playing like himself.
If Bosa can prove his knee is behind him and return to the speed-to-power form that made him a DPOY, it sets up a strong platform for both his next contract negotiation and the 49ers’ Super Bowl hopes. If not, an already shaky defensive turnover cycle only gets harder to defend.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Why 49ers injured star has a lot riding on the 2026 season
