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Arizona Cardinals News
Free agency isn’t just when players say goodbye to people and places they became so familiar with, it’s also an opportunity for reunions.
The Arizona Cardinals can leverage this thanks to their head coach, Jonathan Gannon. Prior to taking over in Glendale, Gannon was the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles from 2021-22. He coached a plethora of high-quality players fo Philly’s defense in those two years, and now some of them are set to hit the open market next month.
One of them makes perfect sense to end up back with Gannon according to ESPN analyst Matt Bowen.
Cardinals named ideal fit for Eagles DE Josh Sweat
It was just nine days ago when Sweat had the best possible game before entering free agency for the first time in his career, sacking Patrick Mahomes multiple times during the Eagles’ convincing Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Sweat will be a popular name if he does reach free agency, and as Bowen references, the Cardinals have the inside scoop on him thanks to his prior history playing under Gannon for two years.
Cardinals coach Jon Gannon worked with Sweat in Philly, so he knows what he’d be getting in the 6-5, 265-pound edge rusher. Sweat had eight sacks and 33 pressures in the regular season, and he took over at times in the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX win, recording 2.5 sacks. Sweat would add much-needed pass-rushing juice to Gannon’s defense, using his speed-to-power to get to the QB. – ESPN’s Matt Bowen
Sweat’s best two years prior to 2024 were also the two years Gannon was his DC. He posted 7.5 sacks in 2021 to earn his first and only Pro Bowl honor and followed that with a career-high 11 sacks in 2022.
Arizona could definitely use that kind of help on defense. Only the Carolina Panthers had a lower team-wide pass rushing grade according to Pro Football Focus last season. Outside linebacker Zaven Collins led the team in sacks with just five. That can’t be repeated in 2025 if the Cards expect to go far.
Sweat finished this past season, but he also played well for the entirety of 2024. His eight sacks from the regular season were the second-most in his career and he added the aforementioned 2.5 in the biggest win of his life.
Still 27 years old until late in March, Sweat is projected to land a new contract that would pay him around $18 million a year per multiple outlets such as PFF and Spotrac. That deal wouldn’t require a ton of cap space in 2025, but the Cards are projected to have nearly $70 million to work with per OverTheCap.
It’ll be a large investment to garner Sweat’s services for the next few years, as evidenced by his decision to switch agents earlier this month, and with that comes risk. Arizona happens to be the ideal landing spot to mitigate that risk if Philadelphia doesn’t re-sign him or place the franchise tag on him.
