Typically, when an NFL team signs a player to a blockbuster deal that doesn’t work out, you potentially set the franchise back several years. It ends up being a point of embarrassment—just ask the Browns about their contract with quarterback DeShaun Watson.

But to make matters worse, teams are often stuck with the player. When a player is a big bust, but still has lots of guaranteed money in his deal, it’s hard to get rid of him.

Well, we’ve just seen another major bust situation: Bryce Huff.

In March 2024, the Eagles signed running back Saquon Barkley. That obviously paid huge dividends—Barkley helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl. But in March of 2024 the Eagles actually signed free agent edge rusher Bryce Huff to an even bigger contract.

 

Signing and Trading Players With Guaranteed Monies

The Eagles inked Huff to a three-year contract worth $51.1 million, with $34 million fully guaranteed. However, Huff contributed absolutely nothing to the Eagles’ 2024 success.

During the 2024 league year the Eagles paid Huff $17.5 million. Coming into the 2025 season, they were still on the hook for at least $16.5 million. But the Eagles were able to trade Huff to the 49ers.

What happens when an NFL team trades away a player with guaranteed money left on his contract? If an NFL team trades for a player with any guaranteed monies left on their contract, the player’s new team inherits the full contract, with all its obligations and implications. The new NFL team is fully on the hook for any and all guaranteed monies in the contract that have not yet be paid to the player. However, often times the teams will work out a contract restructuring that allows the teams to share the expenses of unpaid monies.

So, what happened with the guaranteed monies not yet paid out to Bryce Huff? Did the Eagles pay that? Or will the 49ers be on the hook? Or is it some combination? Let’s find out!

 

Huff’s Contract Deets

Bryce Huff’s three-year deal was worth $51.1 million total. That included a $16.125 million signing bonus, paid to Huff immediately at the time the deal was signed in March 2024. He was also paid an additional $1.375 million in the 2024 league year—grand total of $17.5 million.

The deal also called for an additional $16.5 million in guarantees during the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

According to Eagles beat reporter Elliot Shorr Parks, the breakdown of the original contract looked like this:

 

 

As you can see in the chart above, the Eagles paid Huff $17.5 million in the 2024 league year, but only $4.35 million actually counted against the salary cap in 2024 (this is a typical Eagles contract structure).

This means that there would still be $13.15 million that has already been paid to Huff, by the Eagles, but has not yet been allocated against the salary cap. With the Eagles trading Huff to the 49ers, they’ll now need to absorb that $13.15 million sum as a dead money salary cap hit.

The trade was agreed to before June 1, but it won’t be officially processed until after June 1. This will allow the Eagles to spread the dead money cap hit over two seasons, $4.38 million in 2025 and $8.77 million in 2026.

Of course, in addition to what Huff was already paid by the Eagles in 2024, he was also slated to be paid another $33.6 million over the 2025 and 2026 seasons, with $16.5 million of those monies being fully guaranteed.

So, what happens to the guaranteed money when he’s traded?

 

Restructuring Gets You Out of the Deal, But Could Cost You a Few Million Bucks

As previously stated, any team that trades for a player is fully on the hook for any and all guaranteed monies that have not yet be paid.

In theory, if the Eagles could trade Huff to another NFL team, the new team would then be on the hook for the rest of the contract (in this case that would include $33.6 million over two seasons, with $16.5 million fully guaranteed).

If the Eagles could pull off that sort of trade, that would mean they would have paid Huff $17.5 million for just one season, with $4.35 million having counted against the 2024 cap and the outstanding balance (the aforementioned $13.15 million) then counting as a dead money cap hit against the salary cap, stretched out over the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

But here’s the thing: Huff sucked in 2024. He was so bad, he was actually a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl. Ouch!

So, there was no team that was going to willingly take on $16.5 million in guarantees.

What did the Eagles do to get rid of Huff? The same thing the Saints did to manage the Derek Carr situation, the Eagles restructured the contract.

Huff was slated to be paid a total of $17 million in 2025 (through a combination of base salary, workout bonus, and option bonus). However, according to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Eagles converted that $17 million sum into two chunks: $9.05 million and $7.95 million. The Eagles then paid Huff the first chunk ($9.05 million), right before trading him. Ouch.

The 49ers would not have wanted to pay Huff $17 million for 2025, but they were willing to take on the responsibility for paying him a lesser amount; the 49ers will now be on the hook for the second chunk, the $7.95 million sum—that will be his base salary for 2025.

The $9.05 million chunk that the Eagles paid to Huff, right before they traded him, must also be accounted for against the salary cap. They Eagles will take $1.81 million of that sum as a dead money cap hit against the 2025 salary cap and then the $7.24 million balance will count as dead money against their 2026 salary cap.

For the Eagles, this is a hard pill to swallow. They’ve paid Huff a grand total of $26.55 million for one year of service. Ouch.

The finances for Huff’s tenure with the Eagles ends up looking like this:

 

 

Huff will be under contract with the 49ers for the 2026 season for $16.6 million, but in all likelihood Huff will never see that money. Unless Huff has an All-Pro season, the 49ers will cut Huff after the 2025 season and they’ll owe him nothing.

 

Why Would They Do This?

It was rumored on social media that this trade was going to save the Eagles $15 million in salary cap space, but that’s absurd. I have no idea where people got that from. The actual 2025 cap savings is actually less than $2 million. Everyone who has been reading my site knows, the Eagles don’t make moves just to cultivate cap savings. The real issue is saving money.

When the Eagles signed the deal, they were on the hook for $34 million. If they were to cut Huff, they still would’ve been on the hook for the balance of that $34 million still not paid. So a trade saves them money. After the trade, they’ve paid out a total of $26.55 million. So, in essence, this trade saves the team $7.45 million in real cash. That’s not nothing.

For the Eagles, this trade is pretty simple, they’re saving cash and getting rid of a player that is not a good fit. Former Eagles captain Brandon Graham put it this way:

 

“I just think with the Jets, it was just that defense. [Huff played] in that 4-3, wide-9, ‘go get it’ every play. It’s always stop the run on the way to the quarterback, that’s the slogan in that type of defense. So, I feel like it’s all scheme. I’ve seen different guys flourish in different systems. Then you see them get in another system, it’s different… I know Huff can rush, [I’ve seen] him doing [it]… but sometimes it’s just different with the type of scheme.” —Brandon Graham

 

In addition to Huff being a bad scheme fit, it also appears that the Eagles believed that Huff would eventually become a malcontent in the locker room, and they wanted to get ahead of that.

This trade does net the Eagles a mid round draft pick, and that’s valuable—draft capital is always welcomed—but this trade was primarily about saving cash and getting rid of the player.

For the 49ers, they’re seemingly trying to recapture Huff’s potential. This trade reunites Huff with defensive coordinator Robert Salah, who was the head coach of the Jets when Huff performed well in 2023. This will cost the 49ers less than $8 million in 2025. It feels like a gamble that’s probably worth taking. If it turns out that Huff actually sucks, and his 2023 performance was a mirage, then the 49ers can cut him and move on.

 

Winning Cures All Ills

The Eagles are the champs of the NFL. The fan base is flying high. And the team’s defense is a huge part of the reason why they shellacked the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59—so it appears they didn’t really need Huff.

For those reasons, many people have essentially ignored the fact that the Eagles’ biggest 2024 free agent signing was a total bust! Huff was ineffective from the jump and was eventually totally phased out of the defense.

No one seems to know what really happened. It just seems that the Eagles coaching staff soured on Huff—especially defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. But don’t feel bad for Huff, he’s made a lot of money over the last 15 months.

The Huff situation is great evidence that winning truly does cure all ills. This situation also gives us some insights into understanding how a team can get out from under a bad contract with guaranteed monies, if they’re willing to eat some cash.