Even though the 2024 season ended with the Lombardi Trophy for the Philadelphia Eagles, it wasn't smooth sailing for the team. One of their biggest offseason signings, Bryce Huff, turned out to be a bust as he gradually fell out of the rotation and eventually completely falling out of favor in Philadelphia. He was then traded to the San Francisco 49ers for a conditional fifth-round pick over the summer, ending his disappointing stint with the Eagles.
At the time, Eagles fans were relieved to part ways with a headache. Now, seven weeks into the NFL season, Huff is making the Eagles regret their decision to trade him.
Eagles Must Be Regretting Trading Bryce Huff
In Sunday Night Football win for the 49ers over the Atlanta Falcons, Huff shone brighter than anyone else on the field. He had two big sacks on Michael Penix Jr., one of them resulting in a recovered fumble for the 49ers. Huff's burst was especially impressive in this play, getting about as fast a sack you are going to see on a football field. This was not something Eagles fans ever saw from him last year.
Huff added a tackle for loss and two QB hits on top of his five tackles for the night. In Atlanta's final drive in the fourth quarter, Huff had yet another strip sack on Penix before it was overturned. Per Pro Football Focus, Huff had the second-highest defensive grade on the team with 74.5, and a game-best 80.1 pass rush grade.
This was a continuation of what the 27-year-old has been doing all season. Coming into this game, Huff had already recorded more sacks (3) in the first six weeks than he did with the Eagles all of 2024. He also had five tackles for loss and four QB hits in six games to start the campaign. After Sunday night's win, Huff is all the way up to 83.8 defensive grade on PFF, the second-highest mark of his career.
One has to wonder how the Eagles would look like if they had that type of a game-wrecker in their pass rush rotation. There is a three-way tie for sack leader for the Eagles with two apiece, between Zack Baun, Jordan Davis, and Moro Ojomo. Things got so dire against the Vikings that the Eagles had to move star linebacker Jihaad Campbell to EDGE. Azeez Ojulari left the game with an injury, joining Nolan Smith Jr. on the sidelines. Josh Uche has been playing above expectations and Jalyx Hunt makes plays, but the Eagles desperately need more from their pass rush rotation.
Retaining Huff would have certainly helped the Eagles on that front. If he had stayed, he perhaps wouldn't have reached the level he is at in San Francisco right now, but it's difficult to argue that the Eagles wouldn't have benefitted from having him around.