Sneaky detail behind Bryce Huff trade shows 49ers are playing the long game when it comes to maximizing the value

The San Francisco 49ers are in the process of finalizing a trade for pass rusher Bryce Huff. The move comes with some concessions by the team moving Huff, the Philadelphia Eagles — but the 49ers are placing a big bet on Huff in terms of both salary assumed and the conditional compensation reported to be going back to the Eagles. This move is a bet on the power of Robert Saleh and Huff’s fit within his defensive scheme.

But bets like this are made a little easier when, as a team, you know you’re playing with house money. And that’s where the 49ers find themselves this offseason in terms of their mid-round draft selections for the 2026 NFL Draft. San Francisco had their own picks in rounds one through six in 2026 before the Huff trade, plus a sixth-round draft choice courtesy of the team’s trade of running back Jordan Mason to the Minnesota Vikings.

But it’s the 49ers free agent losses in 2025 that have the team in a position to spend a little more freely for an upside bet like Huff. According to the latest projection from Over The Cap, the 49ers are positioned to collect three compensatory picks for the 2026 NFL Draft for the losses of Aaron Banks, Charvarius Ward and Talanoa Hufanga in free agency.

Every year, the NFL awards up to 32 draft picks to teams for net players lost in free agency in the form of “compensatory picks”. San Francisco’s loss of three players who all commanded at least a $13 million annual average on deals with new teams has the Niners aligned to collect for all three:

• Aaron Banks: Projected 4th-round compensatory pick
• Charvarius Ward: Projected 4th-round compensatory pick
• Talanoa Hufanga: Projected 5th-round compensatory pick

With this in mind, if Huff fails to meet the conditions for his trade, the 49ers will still have a 5th-round draft choice despite sending one to the Eagles now. And if his pick accelerates into the 4th-round range, San Francisco has reinforcements coming in the way of multiple compensatory picks in the round. Some of the value of compensatory picks is determined by playing time, so both Banks and Ward will need to stay healthy for these projections to hold true.

But trading a conditional 5th-round draft choice away becomes a little easier proposition knowing that you’ve got a wave of picks coming your way to restock the cupboard in the spring. Maybe that isn’t as ideal as finding a way to keep all your talent year over year, but this is the free agency era of football — you can’t pay everyone. If you have to say goodbye, you may as well use the mechanisms in place to weaponize the system and get creative. 

The 49ers deserve their due for that. And if Huff ends up being the player he was in New York, there will be plenty more flowers owed to San Francisco.