The Philadelphia Eagles traded Bryce Huff to the San Francisco 49ers during the offseason after the edge rusher made it known early on that he did not feel he was the best fit for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's scheme. In the end, Huff and his $51 million contract were shipped across the country, with general managerHowie Roseman having to accept a return of a 2025 mid-round draft pick.
With Monday's news that Niners star defensive end Nick Bosa had reportedly torn his ACL, per NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the likelihood that Philadelphia receives the higher end of their potential compensation for Huff, a fourth-round pick, seems less likely to pan out than it did before Bosa went down.
Joey Bosa's Injury Likely to Impact Eagles' Trade Return for Bryce Huff
Had Huff recorded eight sacks or more as a member of San Francisco's roster this season, Philadelphia would have received a fourth-rounder. Now, with opposing defenses likely shifting more of their focus onto Huff than they would have been if Bosa were healthy and able to play, the Eagles are likely going to have to settle for a fifth-round pick instead, as it is hard to envision a scenario where Huff reaches that eight-sack mark.
Given some of the issues facing Philadelphia's roster at this moment on both sides of the ball, landing the higher end of the potential draft compensation that San Francisco will send out at the end of the 2025 campaign would be a great benefit to the Eagles. It just doesn't seem anywhere near as likely an outcome that Huff reaches that performance mark now, however, despite the former Eagle already having two QB sacks to his name this season.
Barring some move to add a pass rusher from outside of the organization to pick up the slack, the burden of making up for the lost production will fall on Huff and rookie Mykel Williams.
Of the available options on the 49ers' roster, that pairing has the best chance of routinely putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Unfortunately, that also means that those two will be a larger part of pregame preparations for opposing offenses looking to take advantage of the now Bosa-less defensive front.
Perhaps Huff proves his doubters wrong and continues racking up QB sacks from here on out. That would be a welcome outcome in Philadelphia. At the same time, with the ways Huff has disappointed Eagles fans before, it will be hard to put faith in him now.