The San Francisco 49ers will have to manage the rest of the 2025 season without star edge rusher Nick Bosa after he tore his ACL. This loss may have the Niners regretting the fact they let go of Leonard Floyd in the offseason.
The Bosa news is an absolute gut punch for a San Francisco team that has begun the season 3-0, thanks in large part to the defense. While there were a lot of concerns about the defense coming into the season, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh has done a masterful job of running the show thus far and getting the most out of the talent available.
Now, the Niners' defensive depth is going to be tested after losing Bosa. The fear is they do not have the depth to deal with an injury this big, which is why trade ideas are already being floated to try and address the gaping hole left with his absence.
We will see if any deal gets made, but the 49ers may end up having regrets for how they handled their D-line in the offseason.
Cutting Leonard Floyd may come back to haunt 49ers
San Francisco got rid of Floyd even though he had a solid season in 2024 with 8.5 sacks. The thinking was the Niners might be trying to make room for a bigger pass-rusher, but instead, the goal was to do less with more as general manager John Lynch and the front office tried to make the team younger and cheaper.
Lynch and Co. succeeded in that effort as they loaded up on young defensive talent in the NFL Draft and got rid of veterans like Floyd and Maliek Collins to make room for their younger players. So far, the results have been good, but now is when this approach could come back to bite them.
For the time being, linemen like Bryce Huff, rookie Mykel Williams, Yetur Gross-Matos, and others are going to have to try to fill the void left by Bosa. They will not be able to completely fill that hole, but the hope is, in the aggregate, they can at least ensure the defense will not be neutered and ineffective without Bosa.
If the defense struggles mightily without Bosa yet remains in playoff contention, maybe Lynch will make a move.
But until then, the 49ers may regret getting rid of the depth they had in players like Floyd.