bryce huff announced his retirement from the NFL on social media on Thursday, March 12th, 2026, ending a six-season career that included stints with the New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. His exit removes the 49ers’ leading 2025 pass rusher — four sacks and a team-high 46 pressures — and turns edge rush into an immediate roster priority.
Bryce Huff’s 49ers season
Huff played 15 games for San Francisco last season, starting eight and logging a career-high 56 percent of defensive snaps while finishing with four sacks, 30 total tackles, six tackles for loss and 15 quarterback hits. He also registered two forced fumbles and one pass defended. The pattern suggests the 49ers leaned on Huff as a pass-rush specialist after other options were sidelined, with his 46 pressures and team-high sack total reflecting an expanded role on third downs and obvious pass-rush situations.
Jets and Eagles tenure
bryce huff began his NFL journey as an undrafted free agent out of Memphis in 2020 and spent multiple seasons with the New York Jets, producing a 10-sack breakout season in 2023. He then signed a multi-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, collected a Super Bowl ring when the Eagles beat the Kansas Chiefs 40-22, and was a healthy inactive for that Super Bowl. Across six NFL seasons since 2020 he finished with 25 sacks, 108 tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 62 quarterback hits in 81 games. The figures point to a player who rose from undrafted status to a meaningful starter while also experiencing clear volatility in production after moving teams and signing a larger contract.
Eagles trade to 49ers
The Eagles traded Huff to the 49ers last offseason for a fifth-round pick that could become a fourth if he reached 10 sacks; his new deal had been described as a $50 million-plus agreement and was also referenced as a three-year, $51 million contract in coverage. He was expected to carry a $5. 392 million cap hit this season but had no guaranteed money remaining on the deal. The pattern suggests that the combination of the trade terms and the lack of guaranteed money made Huff a movable roster piece for Philadelphia and gave San Francisco short-term flexibility when injuries thrust Huff into a larger role.
With Huff retiring at age 27, the 49ers are left with Nick Bosa, Mykel Williams and Sam Okuayinonu as the main edge options on the roster; coverage of the team frames the edge position as an offseason priority in free agency and the NFL Draft. If the 49ers pursue that priority immediately in free agency, the roster moves and cap space decisions the team makes next will indicate whether they seek a veteran replacement or prefer to target pass-rush talent in the draft.
