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<p>Don&#8217;t hold your breath waiting for the <a href="https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/football/nfl/teams/san-francisco-49ers/359" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">49ers</a> to add an edge rusher this offseason.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6-WaKPUQdY" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">NBC Sports Bay Area&#8217;s Matt Maiocco</a> threw cold water on two of the names most frequently connected to <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/san-francisco/">San Francisco</a>: free agent edge rusher <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/29237/">Joey Bosa</a> and <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/pittsburgh/">Pittsburgh Steelers</a> edge rusher <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/32772/">Alex Highsmith</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;I still don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s going to happen anytime soon,&#8221; Maiocco said. &#8220;In fact, I really don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s going to happen, period.&#8221;</p>
<p>The most <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/49ers-remain-linked-aging-star-183034491.html">obvious name in these conversations</a> has always been Bosa, given his brother Nick plays for the 49ers. But Maiocco doesn&#8217;t see that connection leading anywhere. He pointed to <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nick-bosa-hints-brother-joeys-141317160.html">Nick Bosa&#8217;s recent public comments</a> about his brother as a signal that Joey may be closer to retirement than a comeback.</p>
<p>&#8220;Listening to Nick Bosa and hearing him and taking him at face value, it certainly didn&#8217;t sound like there&#8217;s any sense of urgency for Joey Bosa to get out there and continue his football career,&#8221; Maiocco said. &#8220;If in late May, early June, his mind is more on golf than football, it leads me to believe that there&#8217;s a really good chance that he ends up retiring.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s unclear what Bosa, who had five sacks for the <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/buffalo/">Buffalo Bills</a> 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 <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/49ers-gm-throws-cold-water-150108110.html">would be too expensive for the 49ers</a>.</p>
<p>The other name that&#8217;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&#8217;t be prohibitive, noting San Francisco <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/49ers-trade-2026-draft-pick-225854140.html">acquired Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa</a> for a third-round pick this offseason.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>&#8220;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,&#8221; Maiocco said. &#8220;The $14.5 million of the base salary for Alex Highsmith would be something where that would be 14.5 million that they don&#8217;t have for next year.&#8221;</p>
<p>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 <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/40080/">Keion White</a> is recovering from a shooting. However, it seems as though the team is content with this group, as well as <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/34462/">Sam Okuayinonu</a> and 2026 third-rounder Romello Height.</p>
<p>For now, though, the message from one of the team&#8217;s most plugged-in reporters is pretty clear: the 49ers are going into training camp with what they have.</p>

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