Many who acknowledge Howie Roseman’s brilliance as the Philadelphia Eagles‘ general manager often reference the same things. He manages the salary cap as if he invented it. He does a good job of surrounding himself with other brilliant minds, but this next nugget might be the most important.

Despite the mistakes he has made, he has done a good job of learning from them. It’s for that reason that telling Roseman’s story always seems to get better as it ages.

It’s a tale of growth and evolution. He has learned to resist the temptation to become emotionally attached and overpay for players. Rather than carry bad deals that handcuff the organization, he has been more willing to accept defeat, admit a mistake, and move on.

Look no further than the trade that shipped Bryce Huff to the San Francisco 49ers. It appears, however, that Bryce may have welcomed a trade had it come earlier.

Bryce Huff adds another layer to the tales of his one-and-done season in Philadelphia.

Huff’s tenure in Philadelphia will be remembered as one that began with a three-year deal, one that ended with a healthy scratch in Super Bowl 59. He was traded to the 49ers on June 2. It sounds like Huff would have rather enjoyed an earlier exit.

“If I’m being 100 percent honest with you, I wanted a trade like fairly early on.” Those were his words during a recent interview with TheSFNiners.

Huff revealed that he recognized things weren’t going to go as he had hoped relatively early. He sustained an injury, tried to get back on the field sooner than he should have, and now, he reunites with his former head coach, Robert Saleh, who is again the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator.

“Just cause of how things went in Philly, I knew pretty early on it wasn’t a fit. I knew a trade wasn’t going to happen during the [2024] season. But I talked to my agent about it and was like, when it’s all set and done, I might need to step to put myself in the best position… I kind of knew where it was headed fairly early on into the season.”

Huff collected 13 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and a forced fumble during 12 games with six starts. He won a Super Bowl ring despite not playing in the big game. Interested eyes in Philadelphia and the Bay Area will be watching to see if he can construct a bounce-back season with the Niners.

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Bryce Huff admits to having eyes on an early 2024 departure