By Brooks Kubena, Matt Barrows and Jayna Bardahl
The Eagles of Philadelphia endeavor to exchange the Rusher Bryce Huff on board veteran at the 49ers of San Francisco for a choice of recovery in mid-turn, the sources of the league confirmed to Athletics Friday. ESPN first announced the news.
Huff had a disappointment of a season with the Eagles, who signed it as one of the The best free agents of last year. He missed five games after wrist surgery, returned in week 17 and was put on the bench in the victory of the Super Bowl Lix in Philadelphia. He entered the second year of his $ 51.1 million contract over three years in 2025, but had been significantly absent from Eagles otawhich started on Tuesday.
In San Francisco, Huff will be found with the defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, his head coach for three seasons with the New York Jets. Huff had a year of escape with Saleh in 2023, recording 29 plated and 10 bags. New York signed it as a free agent not drafted in 2020 from Memphis.
How will Huff integrate into San Francisco?
Yes, the 49ers wrote a defensive side, Mykel Williams, with their first choice in April, but many wondered why they did not write another with one of their other selections. This is how the team was away after saying goodbye to Leonard Floyd as a free agency and separating with Drake Jackson due to an injury.
HUFF helps to replenish the closet in the position and gives the defense of San Francisco the type of specialist in the touch pass that the 49ers do not currently have. Williams and Nick Bosa should be players in three down – the robust defensive endings who play the race and who go just as well. Yetur Gloking Matos is a low body race specialist on Downs base who can move inside for the defensive tackle on obvious passes.
Huff, meanwhile, is known for his speed and his bend, which helped him at a season of 10 racks when he played for Saleh in 2023. The 49ers had this kind of player in the past in the form of Elvis Dumervil, Dee Ford and Samson Ebukam. Before this job, however, the player on the current list that best corresponded to this description was Sam Okuayinonu. He played 450 defensive snaps last season but had no bags after week 8. – Matt Barrows, 49ers beating writer
Not satisfied expectations in Philadelphia
The absence of Huff during the first public session of the OTA pointed out that a schism was to come. But the signs of this imminent divorce have been around for months. That such a development occurs before the second season of Huff in Philadelphia underlines how short this arrangement is short of the expectations that have been set when the Eagles signed it in 2024.
The Eagles, who exchanged Haason Reddick to the Jets, thought they had landed a rusher of promising passes which flourished in a defender of the tip of all the stockings. But Huff never obtained a full -time role with the Eagles and finished with 2.5 bags and three plated for the loss in 12 games. After Huff was relegated to a role of Passe-Rush, he underwent a wrist operation in November and missed five games. As Huff returned in week 17, Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt had solidified the roles in front of Josh Sweat along the defensive edge. Huff only played 13 snaps in the two eliminatory matches of Philadelphia. – Brooks Kubena, Eagles Beat Writer
Financial implications
When the Eagles gave a healthy gap for the Super Bowl Lix in favor of Brandon Graham, it was clear that Huff entered the 2025 off -season on a trembling floor. However, the director general of Eagles, Howie Roseman, insisted in February that “history has not yet been written in Bryce”. Roseman is certainly obstinate to admit defeat in such questions.
The Eagles guaranteed $ 34 million in Huff’s contract, which reported their initial belief in the impact he would have on defense. Despite the disappointing season of Huff 2024, this financial commitment offered him protection. Even if the Eagles cut Huff after June 1, they would still have absorbed a dead money from $ 19.8 million, according to the ceiling.
But the two parties reached understanding that Huff was not going to be part of the defense plans in 2025. The Eagles worked around Huff’s contract by finding a trade partner ready to take part of the money. According to ESPN, out of the $ 17 million guaranteed by the Eagles, the 49ers will take $ 7.95 million.
In San Francisco, Huff will find Robert Saleh and try to reset his trajectory in a new framework. As for the Eagles and Roseman, they must absorb a $ 9.05 million at the chin for having disappeared on Huff. But the defensive coordinator of the Eagles, Vic Fangio, aligned the most rated defense of the NFL in 2024 without Huff in the range.
The Eagles must identify the on -board rushers that fill the shares of Snap left by Sweat, who signed with the cardinals, and Brandon Graham, who retired. They have acquired options beyond Smith and Hunt in a free agency and the project. They signed veterans Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche at a year and had a choice of sixth round on Antwaun Powell-ryland. Jihaad Campbell, their choice n ° 31, is also a versatile interior that can provide Pass-Rush snaps along the edge. – Kubena
(Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
