49ers Could Target Dolphins Edge Jaelan Phillips After Devastating Nick Bosa Injury
September 22, 2025
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The San Francisco 49ers suffered another monumental blow to their roster in Week 3, as superstar pass-rusher Nick Bosa suffered an injury that will cost him the remainder of the season.
Bosa tore his ACL for the second time in his career, which will end his season after just three games and require surgery to repair, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.
“For Bosa, this is the second season-ending ACL injury of his career,” Wagoner wrote on Monday. “He tore the ACL in his left knee in a Week 2 win against the New York Jets in 2020. He also had a partially torn right ACL when he was a senior in high school (2015).”
The injury occurred late in the first quarter of the 49ers’ dramatic 16-15 win over the division rival Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
In spite of Bosa’s absence for the rest of the year, as well as starting quarterback Brock Purdy and star tight end George Kittle still potentially sidelined for multiple weeks with injuries of their own, the 49ers are 3-0 and sit alone atop the NFC West.
Every other team in the division is currently 2-1.
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Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates a sack against the New Orleans Saints during the second half in the game at Caesars Superdome on September 14, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates a sack against the New Orleans Saints during the second half in the game at Caesars Superdome on September 14, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Purdy and Kittle will return at some point this season — likely before the halfway mark of the year — while wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk will also be back this year around Week 6 after suffering ACL and MCL tears last year.
As such, San Francisco doesn’t need to go hunting for replacements at any of those positions, but the 49ers probably should take a hard look at adding an edge-rusher to supplement the team’s pass-rush in Bosa’s absence.
One player with some juice who might also be available in the coming weeks is Miami Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips.
“Another 2021 first-round pick playing out his fifth-year option with no deal beyond 2025, Phillips could be a very interesting target for pass rush-needy teams if the Dolphins fall out of contention and decide they aren’t going to keep him long term,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote on September 19.
“He has had trouble staying healthy, but he’s healthy right now, and a prorated portion of his $13.251 million salary wouldn’t be too onerous in a league in which everyone’s always looking for edge rushers.”
Phillips bolted out of the gate at the start of his NFL career, tallying 52 QB hits and 22 sacks across 42 games played (26 starts) over his first three seasons.
The Dolphins selected Phillips with the No. 18 overall pick in the 2021 draft out of the University of Miami, inking him to a four-year contract worth just north of $14 million total. The team then exercised its $13.25 million fifth-year option on the outside linebacker in April of last year.
But the 0-3 Dolphins are reeling, and it doesn’t necessarily make sense for them to keep a player in Phillips, who might command a late Day 2 or early Day 3 draft pick in a trade, if they don’t plan to sign him to a long-term deal.
And the lack of a multiyear contract extension for Miami’s injury-prone edge-rusher suggests that a protracted relationship with Phillips may not be in the Dolphins’ plans.
The 49ers, meanwhile, would have the runway to test Phillips’ fit and potentially ink him to a deal next offseason to join Bosa for the foreseeable future. If they don’t like that plan, San Francisco would have zero money invested in the 26-year-old Phillips beyond the end of this season.
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