Eagles finalize trade to send Bryce Huff to 49ers, will receive a 2026 draft pick in return
A league source said Huff agreed to a contract restructure ahead of the trade, which will clear roughly $15 million in cap space this year for the Eagles. The pick could rise as high as a fourth.
The Eagles finalized a trade Monday to send Bryce Huff to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a 2026 mid-round pick, pending a physical.
The framework of the deal was mostly agreed to last Friday, but both teams waited to make it official until after June 1 to allow the Eagles to spread the edge rusher’s remaining cap hit over two seasons. The specific draft compensation the Eagles are receiving was unclear in the team’s announcement, but CBS later reported the pick is a conditional 2026 fifth-round pick that could rise to a fourth if specific performance conditions are met.
The Eagles offloaded Huff just one year after signing the 27-year-old to a three-year contract worth $51.1 million. The former New York Jets designated pass rusher was expected to take on a prominent role in a rebuilt edge-rusher rotation in his first and only season with the team, but quickly fell out of favor with the coaching staff both on early downs and obvious passing situations.
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Even after Huff recovered from a midseason wrist injury and returned to the lineup, he was a healthy scratch for Super Bowl LIX and finished the season with just 2½ sacks, 13 total tackles, and 285 defensive snaps.
A few days before the Super Bowl, Huff conceded that he struggled to handle the scrutiny surrounding his play that originated in training camp when Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio acknowledged he had yet to prove he was an every-down player.
“I would calm down and then look at my phone and some new [stuff] would pop up,” Huff said. “It was just one thing after another.”
“I had to make that adjustment to this environment,” he added. “I know there was a lot of stuff going on outside of me. I’m the type of guy where football isn’t just what I do, it’s a part of who I am. So when you see all the negativity, it does do something to you when you’ve never experienced that kind of stuff before. I was just walking around mad all day. I know that’s not healthy mentally or physically, but I got that under control and I was really able to dial in and do my thing.”
Seemingly eager to facilitate his exit after a turbulent season, a league source said Huff agreed to a contract restructure in the lead-up to the trade. The Eagles will clear roughly $15 million in cap space this year as a result of Huff reworking his deal, which gives them much-needed financial flexibility with possible extensions coming for players like Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Quinyon Mitchell, and Cooper DeJean in future offseasons.
The move will reunite Huff with former Jets head coach and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. The former undrafted free agent out of Memphis had a career-high 10 sacks in 2023 under Saleh.
Jeff McLane contributed reporting to this story.