The Philadelphia Eagles saw enough out of their group of edge rushers through the first part of the offseason, they decided parting ways with $51 million edge rusher Bryce Huff via a trade with the San Francisco 49ers was totally fine.
In that process, the Eagles may have managed to not only rid themselves of the worst contract on their roster but also opened the door to a group of highly motivated players to step into the void left by Huff and Josh Sweat for the defending Super Bowl champions.
One of the players with a big opportunity after Huff’s exit is second year edge rusher Jalyx Hunt, who Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine singled out as the “Top Breakout Candidate” for Philly this summer.
“That leaves a fairly large vacuum for a player like Jalyx Hunt to step into,” Ballentine wrote on June 2. “He played 25 percent of the defensive snaps as a rookie with 1.5 sacks, but he played his best football in the postseason with another 1.5 sacks. Philadelphia has always been adept at building a dominant pass rush. It’s hard to believe it wouldn’t have been more aggressive if it didn’t believe Hunt has big things in store for 2025.”
Jalyx Hunt getting a sack in the Super Bowl was one of my favorite moments
Eagles Turned to Hunt Following Huff’s Injury
The Eagles turned to Hunt as a rookie in 2024 after Huff’s production seemed to grind to a halt and he eventually missed 5 games due to wrist surgery.
Huff represented one of the Eagles’ rare misses in terms of personnel moves after they signed him to a 3-year, $51.1 million free agent contract in March 2024 following a 10-sack season with the New York Jets in 2023.
The Eagles got almost zilch from Huff but watched Sweat dominate during the regular season and in the postseason before signing a 4-year, $76.4 million free agent contract with the Arizona Cardinals on March 10.
Hunt, 6-foot-4 and 252 pounds, was a third round pick (No. 94 overall) in the 2024 NFL draft after earning FCS All-American honors at Houston Christian. Hunt showed he could be a high level producer in college with 20.5 sacks over his final 3 seasons, including 13.5 sacks in 2023.
At the NFL scouting combine, Hunt solidified his draft stock by running the 40-yard dash in 4.64 seconds and played in 16 regular season games as a rookie with 21 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 3 QB hits. He was playing his best football in the playoffs, where he had 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 4 games.
Eagles Should Still Have Intense Edge Rusher Battle
The Eagles will still have an intense battle for reps at edge rusher, where former first round pick Nolan Smith Jr. and free agent signee Azeez Ojulari are currently listed at the top of the depth chart, with Hunt and free agent signee Josh Uche nipping at their heels.
Smith is coming off a breakout season in 2024, when he became a full time starter for the first time and finished with 6.5 sacks in the regular season but had offseason triceps surgery.
The Eagles invested modestly in Ojulari (1-year, $3 million) and Uche (1-year, $1.92 million) and both will be playing for major paydays in the 2026 free agent cycle. Both players have shown they can be dominant at times. Uche had a career high 12.0 sacks with the New England Patriots in 2022. Ojulari averaged 8.1 sacks per season over the last 4 years with the New York Giants.
