After losing to the Kansas City Chiefs again in the playoffs, this time in the AFC Championship Game last season, the Buffalo Bills decided to make a splash in free agency on the defensive side of the ball.
The Bills signed former Pro Bowl defensive end Joey Bosa to a one-year, $12.6 million deal. Buffalo hopes that Bosa, along with Gregory Rousseau and former Los Angeles Rams outside linebacker Michael Hoecht, who was signed to a three-year, $21 million pact, can re-ignite their pass rush and help them get over the top.
However, the Bills are already dealing with an injury regarding Bosa, which is not what their fans want to hear.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Bills head coach Sean McDermott told reporters on Tuesday that Bosa pulled his calf and will more than likely be sidelined until training camp.
This isn’t ideal news for Buffalo as Bosa has dealt with various injuries throughout his 10-year career. Last year with the Los Angeles Chargers, Bosa stayed on the field, appearing in 14 games (nine starts).
It was a notable improvement from the 2023 and ‘22 seasons, where he played in a total of 14 games, due to a foot sprain (missed seven games in '23) and groin tear (missed 12 games in '22).
Even though Bosa wasn’t a full-time starter last season in Los Angeles, he still managed to have 22 combined tackles, 19 quarterback pressures, 13 quarterback hits, five tackles for loss, five sacks, and two forced fumbles.
One of his five sacks came against the Chiefs late last season in Week 14. He missed the first matchup in Week 4, likely due to injury.
Chiefs fans are very familiar with Bosa’s game due to his time with the Chargers in the AFC West.
When healthy, Bosa is one of the better edge rushers in the league, as he has 72 sacks in his career. However, the veteran defender has 5.5 sacks in 12 career games against Kansas City, which just shows that Andy Reid and Co. have his number.
Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see if Bosa can bounce back from this injury or if it will be something that bothers him throughout the season, which could affect the Bills’ chances in 2025.