{"id":536102,"date":"2026-03-12T18:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/536102\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T18:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:48:08","slug":"nfl-trade-buzz-builds-around-cardinals-top-pass-rusher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/536102\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Trade Buzz Builds Around Cardinals\u2019 Top Pass Rusher"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Arizona Cardinals made plenty of changes this offseason, one that may have seen their top pass rusher demand a trade. <\/p>\n

Outside linebacker Josh Sweat inked a four-year, $76.4 million deal to sign with the Cardinals last offseason. His connection with prior Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon was key in his acquisition. <\/p>\n

Yet Gannon was fired after a dismal 3-14 season, and there’s been two separate reports on Sweat requesting a trade this offseason. <\/p>\n

Josh Sweat Requests Trade From Cardinals?\"Arizona<\/p>\n

Dec 7, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals linebacker Josh Sweat (10) against the Los Angeles Rams at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

PHNX’s Johnny Venerable first floated<\/a> this earlier in the week: <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll break some news right now. When (former Cardinals head coach) Jonathan Gannon got fired, Josh Sweat asked to be traded,” Venerable said on Monday (h\/t NJ.com<\/a>). “\u2026 Maybe he\u2019s cool with (Cardinals defensive coordinator) Nick Rallis so it\u2019s fine now. I don\u2019t know.” <\/p>\n

Now, there’s some pull emerging<\/a> from 247 Sports’ Green Bay Packers writer Easton Butler: <\/p>\n

“Cardinals EDGE Josh Sweat has requested a trade this week, per a source. The Packers and Eagles are both reportedly interested in him. Philly is trying to find another star on the DL, after losing Phillips to Carolina,” he said. <\/p>\n

What to Make of Josh Sweat Trade Chatter\"Arizona<\/p>\n

Nov 3, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Arizona Cardinals linebacker Josh Sweat (10) celebrates after he sacks Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Sweat’s ties to Gannon make sense, as he previously worked under his guidance in Philadelphia. Sweat’s best two seasons, in terms of sack production, were under Gannon. <\/p>\n

Many players vouched for Gannon not to be fired, though owner Michael Bidwill and general manager Monti Ossenfort obviously had different plans. <\/p>\n

The Cardinals would be unwise to unload Sweat and his 12 sacks last season, which was nearly double of the next player in Calais Campbell (6.5) \u2014 who is currently a free agent. No other player had more than two. <\/p>\n

Arizona is highly favored to take an edge rusher early in the 2026 NFL Draft, where they have pick No. 3\/34 in the first two rounds. Opposite of Sweat are names such as Baron Browning, Zaven Collins and Jordan Burch \u2014 who all combined for just 4.5 sacks. <\/p>\n

Case in point, Sweat isn’t breaking the bank with his cap number and has produced more than enough to justify his presence and payday. He’s also turning 29 later this month and still has three years left on his deal. <\/p>\n

If the Cardinals were to offload him, they’d need a pretty high draft pick to contemplate pushing a deal through. However unless Sweat just absolutely threatens to sit things out, Arizona shouldn’t move off their premier pass rusher. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Arizona Cardinals made plenty of changes this offseason, one that may have seen their top pass rusher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-536102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}