The San Francisco 49ers have acquired Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Bryce Huff in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Eagles’ compensation for Huff could become a fourth-round pick, ESPN reported, depending on his production and playing time with San Francisco.
The trade reunites the former St. Paul’s Episcopal standout with San Francisco defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Saleh served as Huff’s head coach with the New York Jets in 2021, 2022 and 2023 as the defensive end grew into a top pass-rusher off the bench.
The Eagles signed Huff to a three-year, $51.1 million contract as an NFL free agent last offseason after he recorded 10 sacks, 21 quarterback hits and 33 pressures during the 2023 season.
As a starter in the first three games of the 2024 season, Huff had one tackle and no sacks. He started three more games in the remainder of the season, missed a five-game block from Weeks 12 through 16 because of a wrist injury and did not play in Philadelphia’s 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX.
Huff finished the season with 2.5 sacks and 13 tackles in 12 games.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was asked why the Huff signing had not worked out for Philadelphia.
“I think the one thing is he was getting better,” Fangio said, “and when he hurt his hand, he tried to play with it a couple of weeks. It wasn’t going good because he was reluctant to use his hand. And then when they operated on it, he had to play with a big cast on his hand, which basically rendered his hand useless, and then rendered your arm useless because you can’t use your hand. That really had an effect on him. And we just come out of draft season, and first thing you see, when they put a guy’s name up on the board, his hand size, his arm length. Well, he lost all that.
“And while he was out, Nolan (Smith Jr.) got more snaps, Jalyx (Hunt) got more snaps, and things evolved. But I think he’ll do fine in San Francisco.”
Huff was an All-State defensive lineman in 2015, when St. Paul’s Episcopal won the AHSAA Class 5A championship.
The Mobile native entered the NFL from Memphis as an undrafted rookie in 2020.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.