SANTA CLARA — Pass rusher Bryce Huff racked up a career-high 10 sacks playing under Robert Saleh on the 2023 New York Jets, and it appears the 49ers are reviving that connection to bolster their revamped defensive front.
The 49ers are expected to trade for Huff from the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles, in exchange for a mid-round draft pick, ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported Friday.
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That deal isn’t expected to become official until next week, once salary-cap ramifications are eased with a post-June 1 designation. The 49ers have not yet announced that a trade is pending.
Huff would add veteran spice to a pass-rush rotation including Nick Bosa, the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and Mykel Williams, the 49ers’ first-round draft pick this year. Sam Okuayinonu lined up with Bosa on the first-string unit in Thursday’s organized team activities, which fellow defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos was excused from for the birth of his child.
Huff had just 2 1/2 sacks and four quarterback hits in 285 defensive snaps and 12 games last season with the Eagles. He signed a three-year, $51 million deal with them last year as a free agent, and that contract has been reworked so the 49ers’ would only owe him $7.95 million this season while the Eagles take on $9.05 million of his $17 million in guarantees, per Schefter.
With Saleh in his third year as the Jets’ coach, Huff flourished in what was his fourth season with the team, and going to the 49ers would reunite him with Saleh, who’s making an encore as their defensive coordinator after holding that role 2017-20.
The 49ers-Jets pipeline has brought others to Santa Clara this offseason: special teams coordinator Brant Boyer, linebacker Chazz Surratt, punter Thomas Morstead and kicker Greg Joseph.
Defensive ends Leonard Floyd, Drake Jackson and Alex Barrett were waived earlier this offseason amid a 49ers’ roster purge that saw them also ditch starting defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Maliek Collins. Defensive end Robert Beal Jr. was limited to individual conditioning Thursday.