Huff is History

Saquon Barkley and Zack Baun were the stars of the 2024 Eagles. As crazy as it sounds, they weren’t the highest paid free agents. That honor went to DE Bryce Huff, who signed for 3 years and $51M. Huff’s season did not go as hoped. He struggled, got hurt and ended up inactive for the Super Bowl. He went from free agent darling to expensive cheerleader.

That’s about to change.

The Eagles are working to finalize a deal that will send Bryce Huff to the 49ers for a mid-round pick, per league source. (As @AdamSchefter reported first.)

The trade would not go into effect until AFTER June 1.

— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) May 30, 2025

Howie strikes again.

Howie thought Huff could be an impact pass rusher for the Eagles so they signed him for big money last season. Huff struggled to get on the field. Vic Fangio lets his actions speak louder than his words. When Huff wasn’t playing, that told you all you needed to know. Huff just wasn’t a good fit in Fangio’s scheme.

Fangio needs guys to play the run as well as rushing the QB. He needs tough, physical DEs. Pure speed rushers aren’t what he is looking for. Huff excelled as a situational rusher for the Jets in 2023. He showed a top burst, good strength and he played with outstanding leverage. We just didn’t see those traits last season. Huff proved to be a poor fit for Fangio’s system.

Howie spoke in the offseason and talked about not giving up on Huff. We all wondered if he really had faith in him or if that was just posturing to let the other 31 teams know Huff wasn’t going to be cut. Howie is stubborn (as most GMs and coaches are) so it was easy to believe he might want to see if Huff could turn thing around. Thankfully that won’t be happening.

Robert Saleh was the head coach of the Jets when Huff had his breakout season. Saleh is now the defensive coordinator for the Niners so it made sense for him to want Huff. He’s gotten good production from the speedy rusher. I thought the Niners might wait to see if the Eagles would cut Huff, but they decided it was worth it to deal for him.

The Eagles will save some money and get a draft pick in return. It won’t be great savings. Jason from OverTheCap explained the situation.

The trade, which will be processed after June 1, will result in the Eagles taking on $4.94 million in dead money this year. They will defer $16.6 million to next season. While there is a lot of chatter about the Eagles creating over $15 million in space this year the reality is Huff’s original cap number was just $7.4 million so really the team is only $2.4 million better off than originally expected. They will be about $5 million worse off in 2026 than his original contract’s salary cap number. I believe the Eagles will get a $250,000 cap credit in 2026 for a guaranteed workout bonus that already counted on the cap for the Eagles.

If you save a nickel and get a pick, this is a great move. The other option was paying more and getting nothing.

One notable update to clarify on the cap implications of the Bryce Huff deal:

The cap savings for 2025 for Philly are far more modest – close to $2.4M per @Jason_OTC.

The motivation for this deal was likely rooted in the cash savings ($7.95M) & draft compensation, while also… https://t.co/pzMbaHSbfq

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 31, 2025

This will only be a Day 3 pick, but that still has value. Look at some Day 3 picks from recent years.

4th round – Josh Sweat

5th round – Jeremiah Trotter Jr
5th round – Kenny Gainwell

6th round – Tanner McKee
6th round – Grant Calcaterra

As a friend pointed out, that pick can also be used in a trade. Howie can move up by trading that pick if he wants to go get a player. They traded up for Jalen Carter, Cooper DeJean and Jihad Campbell in the past few years. Having extra ammo gives Howie the option to be aggressive. That has worked out pretty well so it is a good thing when he has picks to work with.

It is crazy to think that if you went back to May of 2024 and told an Eagles fan Huff would be a complete bust they would assume the season to be another disappointment. Instead the defense finished #1 and the Eagles won the Super Bowl in a blowout.

Howie took a chance. It didn’t work. Howie won’t get gun-shy, though. He’s not afraid to fail. He’s had picks and trades that didn’t pan out. He keeps right on swinging. That’s how you build a championship roster. You have to take chances. No one saw Jalen Hurts getting picked by the Eagles in 2021. There was a risk in taking Landon Dickerson because of his injury history. There was a risk in drafting Jalen Carter because of his off-field issues. Trading for CJGJ back in 2022 had some risk involved.

As a lawyer once told me, “Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you.” The Huff signing didn’t work out well, but Howie managed to find the best resolution possible. He didn’t bury his head in the sand. He didn’t panic. Howie figured out a way to move on from Huff while still getting something in return. That’s great work by him.

Losing Huff won’t affect the defense. Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt are the returning pass rushers. The team added free agents Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche. They drafted Antwaun Powell-Ryland also brought back Patrick Johnson for depth. And Jihad Campbell can rush off the edge if they want to mix him in there.

This feels like a case of addition by subtraction. The Eagles got better by trading away a player who wasn’t a good fit. That opens up a roster spot for someone. And Huff won’t be a distraction to his teammates or coaches. We can all focus on the guys who will play.

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