Top Free Agent Landing Spots For Eagles DE Josh Sweat

Eagles DE Josh Sweat is poised to do quite well for himself as an unrestricted free agent, as quality pass rushers don’t often hit the market when they’re still in their prime. Philadelphia has money committed elsewhere and won’t be able to match the market for Sweat, which should reach into the high teens in millions per year. With how shallow this free agent pool is, even $20 million a year is within reach. 

Sweat is an impressive athlete with length and speed who’s scheme-versatile, having played well in a few different systems in Philadelphia. He has ranked in the top 20 each of the past two seasons in total pressures and has 25.5 sacks over the past three years. That said, a dose of perspective might be needed. Sweat is a good edge rusher. He’s not an elite one. He has one Pro Bowl to his name and one season with double-digit sacks, though he’s had at least six in each of the past five years. 

In an ideal world, Sweat would be a team’s second-best pass rusher, with someone else either at the other edge spot or on the interior taking away the pressure. Essentially, he’s a good player who is going to get paid like a really good or a great player. That’s free agency, though. 

Sweat, 27, 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 is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

In 2024, Sweat appeared in 16 games for the Eagles and recorded 41 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, eight sacks, and two pass deflections.

We have him included in our Top 100 2025 NFL Free Agents list. 

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals and Sweat check a multitude of boxes for each other and are one of the most obvious free agent pairings of this whole offseason. Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon and DC Nick Rallis were up close and personal for Sweat’s breakout seasons in 2021 and 2021 when they were on Philadelphia’s defensive staff, so they know exactly how to get the most out of him. That familiarity goes both ways too, setting Arizona apart from what will surely be a plethora of other bidders. 

The Cardinals are among the league leaders in available cap space this offseason and have a massive, massive need for help in their front seven. Right now Zaven Collins and BJ Ojulari are on top of the depth chart with not much else behind them and a lot of pending free agents. This is Year 3 for Gannon and Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort and the point where they need to show some fruits from their rebuild. Sweat would instantly raise the level of that room from the bottom of the NFL to probably league average or better. 

Add it all up and it’s safe to say the Cardinals are one of, if not the leading contender, for Sweat’s services in 2025 and beyond. 

New England Patriots

With $120 million in available cap space, the Patriots can basically do whatever they want in free agency this year. If they want a player, they have the money to pay him whatever it takes to get a deal done, even if New England will almost assuredly take a slightly more disciplined approach than that. They have targets, though, and there have been reports that Sweat is one of the players they will aggressively pursue. 

It makes a lot of sense. The Patriots will be revamping their defensive scheme under new HC Mike Vrabel, who hired away former Lions DL coach Terrell Williams to be his defensive coordinator after working for Vrabel in Tennessee as the DL coach as well. The new system will put more of an emphasis on quicker, disruptive players as opposed to the bulky gremlins prized by previous defensive coaches. Sweat is an excellent fit and would provide a huge boost to New England’s barren edge rushing room. 

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers don’t have near the same budget as some of the other teams poised to be active in free agency but they’ve got enough to do some damage — and there might not be another team more motivated to shore up its defense than Carolina after a record-breaking (not in a good way) 2024 season. Among the long list of needs is more firepower on the edge, as Carolina had just 32 sacks and the worst pressure percentage of all 32 teams. 

Signing Sweat would be one way to fix that problem. Carolina could add him to a room that includes Jadeveon Clowney and D.J. Wonnum right now and that would be a viable three-man rotation. Carolina will almost certainly have to pay up and there aren’t really notable pre-existing connections to set their bid apart. But Sweat is the top pass rusher available and the Panthers need help there. It’s as simple as that. 

Chicago Bears

The Bears took a big swing a couple of years ago at landing a pass rusher and traded for Montez Sweat in a midseason deal. That’s overall been a productive move but there’s another level the Bears pass rush can reach to truly help Chicago elevate into contending status. The Bears have north of $40 million in effective cap space this offseason, so there’s room to make another splash. 

Signing up for Sweat bookends could be the call. Both are long uber-athletes who cause a lot of disruption but also can hold up on early downs. Montez is already under contract at $24.5 million a year, so it would be a big load to add another major contract. If there’s a position to do it, though, it’s edge rusher. 

It’s also worth noting Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham was in the Eagles front office for the beginning of Sweat’s career and will have a good read on the player and his potential fit in Chicago. 

Tennessee Titans

The Titans are shopping OLB Harold Landry and will likely cut him if they can’t find a taker. Tennessee’s pass rush was horrendous in 2024, as they tied with the Panthers with 32 sacks and were just ahead of them in pressure rate to finish 31st. They could take the savings from moving on from Landry and turn around to reinvest them back into the room by signing Sweat. From a cash perspective, Sweat probably won’t cost too much more than what Landry was already due, and he was a far more effective player over the past couple of years. 

While the Titans might not be as big of spenders as last year, they have some cash to play with and some notable connections on the defensive coaching staff. Titans DC Dennard Wilson was on the Eagles’ staff at the same time as Sweat and Titans DL coach Tracy Rocker was Sweat’s position coach in Philadelphia for a couple of years.