They saw it coming. Even before the ink dried on the stat sheets or fans learned how to spell his name, there were whispers in Philly, the quiet ones. Inside the building, behind the fences at practice, coaches weren’t just watching; They were already second-guessing. What was supposed to be a key piece for the defense raised eyebrows from the very first second.
Remember when Bryce Huff signed with the Eagles back in 2024? The man was coming off a breakthrough season, and the Eagles fans thought they had found the answer to all their defensive woes. Well, we all know how that ended. And the coaches? They had an idea it was always going to happen.
Back in summer 2024, Eagles DC Vic Fangio didn’t sugarcoat it when asked about his new pass rusher. “He’s taking on the challenge very well. I do think he has the talent… He’s just gotta get familiar… Does he look like he can do it today? No. But I do think eventually he will.” That sort of public hesitancy about a brand-new player? That’s rare.
Bryce Huff recently said “I knew pretty early on it wasn’t a fit” regarding his time in Philadelphia.
I immediately thought of Vic Fangio’s comments on Huff as a run defender early in training camp (spoiler alert: he was right).
: @EliotShorrParks pic.twitter.com/d5JjkTRFsU
— Anthony DiBona (@DiBonaNFL) July 7, 2025
And these words catch the eye. Especially with coaches and film nerds paying attention. In New York, Bryce Huff had just come off a breakout 2023, racking up 10 sacks with the Jets under Robert Saleh. But under Nick Sirianni and Fangio, it was a different story. It felt like we were watching another player.
Nick Sirianni’s 3-4 system didn’t make Huff the guy; it made him more of a luxury piece. He only played 285 snaps all season (just 39%), had 2.5 sacks, and 13 total tackles across 12 games. Even Fangio admitted he was still learning the system. That’s not the kind of adjustment you expect from a big-ticket free agent.
And you could see it happening. Week after week, Huff slipped further into the background. His snap counts dropped. His impact faded. Offensive coordinators saw it too. The same coach who once said Huff “had the talent” now stood by as he became an afterthought in the rotation. The writing was on the wall. Philly knew this wasn’t the answer they’d paid for—they just kept hoping a little more time would fix it.
The Huff and Eagles’ unfit was a two-way street
What is imperative for a player to succeed in any team? We’re talking basics here. It’s the fact that the player genuinely wants to be there. That wasn’t the case with Bryce Huff. Turns out, the Eagles weren’t the only ones feeling the mismatch. Huff did too.
“If I’m being 100% honest with you, I wanted a trade, like, fairly early on,” Huff said on The SFNiners podcast (CBS Sports). That’s a pretty bold admission from a guy who had just signed a big deal after a breakout 10-sack season with the Jets in 2023. But once camp started in Philly, the writing was on the wall for him, too. “I knew pretty early on that it wasn’t a fit,” Huff said. The system didn’t match his skillset, and the expectations? They started to fall apart before the season even began.
Credits: Social media
Even with the Super Bowl ring, 2024 didn’t go the way Buff hoped. He didn’t see the field in the biggest game of the year, and his season numbers (2.5 sacks, 13 tackles, and a forced fumble in just 12 games) felt like a big step back. Add in five games missed with a wrist injury, and it’s easy to see how the year didn’t match the hopes.
But the real blow? It wasn’t just about stats. As Huff put it: “I had just kind of talked to my agent about it… I might need to step, just to be able to put myself in the best position to ball out and have a fruitful career.” That says it all. He knew he wasn’t the right fit for them. And vice versa. That’s tough.
The Eagles finally made it happen in June by sending Huff to the 49ers in a move that felt like a win for everyone. For Huff, it’s a fresh start. It’s a reunion with Robert Saleh, the coach who helped unlock his breakout with the Jets. That kind of familiarity matters.
Now, Huff’s walking into a system that actually fits his game. No more square peg, round hole. And for the Niners? Getting a hungry, motivated edge rusher to line up opposite Nick Bosa? That might quietly end up being one of the smartest pickups of the entire 2025 offseason.
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