Bryce Huff’s expensive Philadelphia Eagles experiment lasted just one season, but the pass rusher says he knew it would fail almost immediately.
In a recent interview with TheSFNiners YouTube channel, Huff opened up about his tumultuous year in Philadelphia, admitting he recognized the poor fit during training camp and actively sought a trade during what became the Eagles’ championship season.
“I wanted a trade like fairly early on,” Huff confessed. “Just because of how things went in Philly, I knew pretty early on it wasn’t a fit.”
The admission is particularly striking given the timing. While his teammates were building chemistry for their eventual Super Bowl LIX victory, Huff was already planning his exit from a three-year, $51.1 million contract signed just months earlier.
Huff’s struggles in Vic Fangio’s defensive system were immediate and obvious. After recording 10 sacks in his final season with the Jets, he managed just 2.5 sacks in 12 games with Philadelphia. The former undrafted free agent went from being a key contributor to a healthy scratch for the Super Bowl despite being cleared to play.
When pressed about specifics, Huff remained diplomatic but hinted at deeper organizational issues.
“There’s a plethora of things that went down. I don’t want to get into specifics,” he explained. “Being in the league for five years, I kind of knew what it felt like to be in a good situation.”
Now he’s back with Robert Saleh in San Francisco, the same coordinator who helped him rack up 10 sacks with the Jets. Saleh clearly still believes in what Huff can do, praising his ability to generate pressure even when the sack numbers don’t tell the whole story.
The whole situation worked out for everyone involved. Huff gets a fresh start with a coordinator who knows how to use him, while the Eagles can move forward with players who actually want to be there. Sometimes the best trades are the ones that get unhappy players out the door before things get worse.