There was a ton of speculation about Cardinals OLB Josh Sweat and his future this offseason. Sweat wasn’t around the team for most of the spring, then spent most of camp on the PUP list with an injury that was shrouded in secrecy (he said he had an offseason procedure and that it wasn’t on his knee, which is all the detail he or the team has provided).
Yet Week 1 came around and Sweat was suiting up in Arizona. Getting a big win against the Chargers probably helped the vibes, but he said afterward, “I’m where I want to be.”
“There was a lot of noise in the offseason, but I didn’t respond purposely,” Sweat said via Darren Urban of the team website. “I just wanted to see how far people’s imagination could take it.”
There was buzz about a trade to the Packers specifically that got a lot of traction late during training camp, especially because Sweat came off the PUP list in time to participate in joint practices in Green Bay and because of his long history with Packers DC Jonathan Gannon. Sweat addressed his relationship with Gannon specifically.
“People think I only came here for one reason and that was Jonathan Gannon, and yeah, that made the decision easier for me, but I know the guys that were here,” Sweat said. “I love the way they play. I love that we want to make something bigger happen here. It’s too good of a place to be where it was last year.”
The Cardinals were also shutting down trade interest in Sweat over the past few weeks, so by all appearances, he’s set to stay in Arizona for the time being.
Sweat, 29, is a former fourth-round pick by the Eagles in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Florida State. He finished the final year of his four-year, $3.05 million rookie contract and earned a base salary of $920,000 for the 2021 season.
Sweat would have been an unrestricted free agent in 2022 before he signed a three-year, $42 million extension. He played out that deal and was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent again in 2025 when he signed a four-year, $76 million contract with the Cardinals.
In 2025, Sweat appeared in all 17 games for the Cardinals and recorded 30 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, four forced fumbles, one recovery, and two pass deflections.
In 2026, Sweat has appeared in one game for the Cardinals and recorded two tackles with one tackle for loss.
We will have more on Sweat as it becomes available.
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