Super Bowl Champion Bryce Huff announces retirement from the NFL at 28 to build a battery safety company

Bryce Huff is done with football. The 28-year-old defensive end announced his retirement on Instagram Thursday, becoming the latest player under 30 to walk away from the league.

Bryce Huff Retirement Announcement

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Bryce Huff spent last season with the San Francisco 49ers after the Eagles traded him away following one of the more disappointing single-season contracts in recent memory.

The Eagles signed Huff to a three-year, $51.1 million deal in 2024, which at the time was the largest contract ever given to an undrafted non-quarterback in NFL history. He finished the season with 5 solo tackles, 8 assists, and 2.5 sacks in 12 games.

That is not what $51 million looks like.

Philadelphia shipped him to San Francisco last offseason to reunite with former Jets head coach Robert Saleh and that was essentially the end of the road.

Huff went undrafted out of college, signed with the Jets, spent four seasons there, and put together a career-high 10 sacks in 2023 that earned him that massive payday in Philly. Unfortunately, it just never translated for the Birds.

San Francisco 49ers DL Bryce Huff informed the team he plans to retire from the National Football League. We would like to thank Bryce for his contributions throughout the 2025 season and we wish him the best. pic.twitter.com/DEFyYvLywv

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) March 12, 2026

His retirement post was genuine and worth reading.

“I started playing football when I was 4 years old. Growing up, I wasn’t the biggest or the strongest, and I didn’t have many friends. All I really had was the game. Football kept me grounded. It gave me something to hold onto.”

Bryce Huff is not walking away with nothing though. Bryce Huff is launching a company called Naberstone, which will build safety infrastructure designed to reduce fire risk from lithium-ion batteries. He called it a mission that will save lives as battery technology continues to scale.

That is a real pivot and genuinely good for him.

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