GM Howie Roseman and the Philadelphia Eagles entered the month of May with a major problem on their books, and the San Francisco 49ers provided a lifeline.
EDGE rusher Bryce Huff — signed to a three-year, $51 million contract in 2024 free agency — was Philadelphia’s highest-paid defensive player during their Super Bowl season. The problem? He was brutally inefficient in Vic Fangio’s scheme, was passed on the depth chart by rookie Jalyx Hunt, and wound up sitting out Super Bowl LIX as a healthy scratch.
That Roseman was able to squeeze out a conditional fifth-round pick for his free agency blunder was viewed as a small victory in Philadelphia. As for San Francisco, NFL analyst Lou Scataglia labeled Huff’s contract as the worst on GM John Lynch’s books for the 2025 season. Here was his take:
Bryce Huff was signed to his ($17 million-per-year) deal by Howie Roseman, so it's not necessarily the fault of the 49ers that he's their worst contract, but the Niners did make the trade and clearly think they can get some value from him. The former Jets and Eagles pass rusher was a total non-factor in 2024 for the Eagles, but he's still got youth on his side, so there could be a breakout season on the horizon.
It’s worth noting here that the 49ers aren’t assuming the full balance of Huff’s terrible contract. Huff’s camp agreed to a restructured deal to help facilitate the trade, with the Eagles assuming about $9 million of the remaining guaranteed money on the deal. That means, if Huff flames out in a reunion with defensive coordinator Robert Saleh in San Francisco, the 49ers will only be on the hook for about $8 million in total cash.
You could argue that the 49ers, in what has been a brutal offseason in terms of roster turnover, should have turned off the phone as soon as they saw Roseman’s number on the other end. But Huff’s contract is no longer one of the worst in football under the parameters of this trade, so labeling it among the NFL’s worst feels a bit off base.
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