When Bryce Huff landed with the Philadelphia Eagles, there was much fanfare. However, that quickly turned to a saga of frustration and disappointment. The fans felt it, the team felt it, and Bryce Huff certainly felt it.
Huff was coming off a 10-sack season with the Jets when the Philadelphia Eagles handed him a three-year, $51 million deal. This came directly following the Haason Reddick trade, made due to age concerns amid contract disputes.
Huff started the season opposite an aging Brandon Graham. Other pass rushers included rookie Jalyx Hunt, second-year Nolan Smith, and Josh Sweat. The only established star, besides a limited Brandon Graham, was Josh Sweat. Expectations and opportunities were steep and plentiful heading into the season.
They proved to be too lofty.
The Warning Signs Were There Before the Season Started
All looked good going into the season, as Huff was coming off leading the league in pressure rate (21.8%) for the second consecutive year.
However, taking a look under the hood would show that his get-off time decreased by more than a tenth of a second since entering the league. That was the biggest reduction by any player in the top 10 of get-off time in 2022. That decline in speed showed throughout his limited time on the field.
In his introductory conference, Huff spoke about the culture fitting him as a person and player. He cited how he faced numerous setbacks and had been overlooked in his career since going undrafted.
“That’s my whole story, I’ve been slept on my entire career,” Huff said. “I am looking forward to balling out with the team and embracing the culture.”
Milton Williams, Jalen Carter, and Jordan Davis on the interior should’ve provided much relief in the pass rush for Huff. As he mentioned later, that is not how it turned out.
Huff Finished With Just 2.5 Sacks Before Getting Benched
Huff finished the season, albeit a short one for him, with the eighth-most sacks on the team (2.5). He finished below Brandon Graham (3.5), who played one fewer game (11). Huff missed time and played through a left wrist injury, while Graham was out until the Super Bowl with a torn left triceps.
That Super Bowl, Huff got benched due to the culmination of lackluster performance and team culture misalignments.
Huff had produced on limited snaps with the Jets but, given more of an opportunity and subsequently more responsibility, he was not able to produce nearly the same. He was a miss of a free agent signing and a sour note on a champagne-stained championship season.
That is what the story was until Huff made various statements recently on a podcast.
Huff Knew It Wasn’t Going to Work From Week 1
At the beginning of the podcast segment about Philadelphia, Huff complimented Philly for having a “crazy fanbase, and their culture is insane.” But shortly after the praise, he discussed that he knew it wasn’t going to work since the “first week of camp.”
“[Vic Fangio] goes into the media and said ‘I don’t think he can stop the run, I don’t think he has what it takes to do the job right now,’ and the fans ate it up… I lost it.”
He blamed a lack of communication between the interior and exterior line groups for some friction. He also said a rush package was installed for him but taken out by Week 2 of camp.
In relation to the problems in Philadelphia, he mentioned that “I [Huff] contributed to that… I feel like when things got weird I should have been more willing to sit down and talk to people.” He said his reluctance to do so stemmed from the fact he was, “never the type of dude to discuss issues; I would rather just try and work through it and hope it gets better.”
It seemed a major gripe for Huff was how the coaching staff treated him. “The way that went down, me finding out I wasn’t playing, I lost so much respect for the people involved in that.”
Huff claimed that he ultimately has, “love for the guys in the building…the locker room all my teammates. Howie was a real one the whole time I was there. Ups and downs.”
When prompted to speak on the Eagles’ current issues, he kept it classy and mostly made general comments. He exclaimed that “I don’t think Jalen [Hurts] is a problem or anything like that. Everybody has their reasons for feeling how they feel about what is going on.”
Both Sides Can Admit the Move Didn’t Work
Essentially, the disconnect between Huff and the Eagles comes from a multitude of factors. Increasing the sample size from New York was never going to scale 1:1, and especially not in a new city with the pressure that Philadelphia brings on a huge contract.
The city was also vulnerable and expecting a lot in lieu of Reddick leaving that same offseason. It seems Philadelphia was desperate for a replacement in the pass rush and tried to fit a square peg through a round hole.
A lot has been made about Huff since his time in Philadelphia, especially with his comments regarding the team and his time there. For the most part, there’s nothing there besides a player and a man lamenting an unpleasant time.
Philadelphia sports media and any other coverage of his statements have seemingly blown his comments out of proportion and skewed them to make it seem like he is not taking any ownership.
Both Huff and Eagles fans can come together in admitting the move was not what they wanted and hopefully move past it.
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