Sometimes, a fit between a player and a team just doesn't work out in the NFL. But winning usually cures everything, and a player finding friction with a Super Bowl-winning team is a bit of a red flag. Reaching the pinnacle of the football world should be a pretty exciting achievement. Bryce Huff, however, clearly doesn't think so.
Eagles fans were celebrating when Huff's trade was announced on Friday, but they weren't the only ones. Huff immediately took to social media for a parting shot of his own. So let's look at where the animosity comes from.
Why Eagles Fans Are Happy to See Huff Leave
Let's start with the easy. Eagles fans were ready to love Huff. He was signed as a free agent coming off a breakout 2023 season with the New York Jets, and the expectation was that he would step in and replace Haason Reddick as the team's dominant edge rusher.
Not only did he fail to do that, recording only 2.5 sacks in 2024, he couldn't even keep himself in the starting lineup. He played more than 25% of the Eagles' defensive snaps in only seven games (the first seven of the season), and he didn't set foot on the field once during the playoffs.
Despite that, his huge contract was keeping Philly in a bind. The structure of his 3-year, $51 million deal made him impossible to ever cut, and really complicated the attempt to trade him. Per Schefter, the Eagles will still take on $9.05 million of Huff's salary in 2025. And even with his big contract, Huff was not attending any voluntary portions of the Eagles' offseason program so far. But all of this makes it easy to see why Huff is glad to be gone, too.
Why Huff is Celebrating
Philly fans don't exactly have a reputation for being soft on players, especially those who let them down. So Huff was getting the full force of every bit of disappointment fans were feeling. A player isn't going to be happy about having a terrible season just one year after breaking out, and getting publicly roasted for it is going to build some resentment.
And Huff, in all likelihood, doesn't believe he's solely to blame for his disappointing season. And whether he's right or not, can you blame him? He had just played arguably the best season of his entire football career. He trusted a move to the Eagles would be the right move for him, and not only did he struggle to succeed within the system, but they eventually gave up on him.
Now he not only gets to leave an environment that had clearly grown toxic, but he gets to reunite with Robert Saleh, who was his coach for that breakout season in 2023. You can forgive him for being a little excited.
What is Huff's Outlook in San Francisco?
This is the tricky part. The trade really seems like a win-win for the Eagles and for Huff. There is a reasonable chance that this trade "backfires" and Huff looks like a steal for the 49ers.
A down year for a 27-year-old who should still be in his prime shouldn't be nearly enough to write him off entirely, especially when he was trying to learn a new defensive system. Plus, PFF didn't actually think he was all that bad: his 68.2 pass rush grade did stack up right next to Nolan Smith's 68.3.
But even if we do see a career resurgence in San Francisco, fans shouldn't change their outlook on the trade. Huff's post proves things just weren't working out in Philly, and even if he's capable of turning his career around, that was never going to happen with the Eagles.