Bryce Huff left the Jets, signed with the Eagles and is about to play in Super Bowl LIX

NEW ORLEANS — Bryce Huff was annoyed and disappointed that the Jets never offered him a contract extension last year.

“Yeah, 100%,” Huff told Newsday this week. “You work and you grind and you develop as a player with those guys for like three or four years, and then to not be able to see it through, it was kind of annoying for me not getting an offer. It’s part of the game.”

The Jets signed Huff as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2020 and watched him grow into an impactful edge rusher. He led the Jets with 10 sacks in 2023.

Huff expressed his desire to sign a long-term deal that year, but it never happened. The Eagles swooped in and gave Huff a three-year, $51.1 million offer in free agency. He didn’t waste any time in accepting it.

“I just wanted to move on as quickly as possible,” he said.

Huff moved on to a much better place.

The Jets have missed the postseason for 14 consecutive years. The Eagles are playing in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday against Kansas City. It’s something Huff and former Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton talk about often.

Becton was a first-round pick of the Jets in 2020. His brief Jets career was injury-riddled, and they didn’t come close to making the playoffs. Now Huff and Becton have a chance to win a Super Bowl together in a different shade of green.

“That’s what mainly my conversations are about,” Becton told Newsday. “I look at Bryce and be like, ‘Bro, just think where we were at last year and look at us now.’ He’ll be like, ‘Yeah, that’s crazy.’ ”

Huff and Becton speak a lot about their career paths and what they’ve gone through to get where they are now. It’s worked out well for Becton. He’s moved to right guard and has started 18 games this season, playoffs included.

“I love seeing him come here and really flourish,” Huff said. “Mekhi’s a great dude, a great athlete. For us to go from New York, not winning, not getting to the postseason the last four years, to really being able to come here and show what we can do is awesome.”

It hasn’t gone as well for Huff. After signing that big contract, he hasn’t played much and had only 2 1⁄2 sacks and four quarterback hits this season. He played 15 snaps in the Eagles’ NFC Championship Game win over the Commanders and didn’t register a stat.

The expectation was that Huff would replace Haason Reddick as the Eagles’ starting edge rusher. They signed Huff after Reddick requested a trade and was sent to the Jets.

The trade didn’t work out for the Jets or Reddick, who held out the first seven games of the season and finished with one sack.

Huff played with a left wrist injury that required surgery. It sidelined him for five games.

“I wasn’t healthy for like nine games this year, which kind of messed things up for me,” he said.

Beyond that, Huff wouldn’t say much. He prefers to keep business and things that go “inside the building” private.

Huff still keeps tabs on the Jets and said “it was unfortunate” to see what they went through this season. He speaks to some of his former teammates, particularly in the defensive line room.

“They’re not worried about me,” Huff said. “ . . . They know where I stand and they know what kind of player I am, what kind of player I’ve always been.

“For them, it’s kind of like, ‘What’s going on?’ At the end of the day, we have an understanding. They helped me become a better player and I helped them become better players.”

Huff has no expectations for how much he’ll play in the Super Bowl but plans to “make the most out of it.” Becton believes Huff will make a big play.

“I actually told him last week, I said, ‘Bro, you’re going to get a sack in the Super Bowl,’ ” Becton said. “He was like, ‘I’m praying on that.’ I said, ‘I am too, but I feel like you’re going to get you a sack in the Super Bowl.’ ”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.