Philly Front Office

Rumor has it that the Cardinals are going to trade Josh Sweat. It is not a matter of “if” but a matter of “when.” That makes sense. Even though he signed a free agent contract with Arizona just a year ago, at 29 years old he is at the end of his prime and the Cardinals are going nowhere.¹ Since the Eagles are a rumored destination, let’s take a gander at his contract because that’s the sort of thing I like doing…

Post AJ Brown

Cardinals Dead Money

After dominating the Super Bowl with 3 sacks, Josh Sweat joined his old defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon, in the desert with a 4/$76m deal. The season went horribly, Gannon was fired, and now there’s just no point to him being there anymore. To see how a trade would affect both his new team and the Cardinals, the first place to look is the signing bonus. Arizona gave him $18.5m up front. Though it was already paid in full, that signing bonus still has to be accounted for. Since we are post-June 1 now, that means the Cards will have $3.7m of that bonus on their cap sheet this year and another $11.1m coming next year.

There is also an option bonus of $7.25m that has also already been paid this season. That hits the books as a $1.8m charge this year with another $5.4m coming next year. The post-trade total charge for the Cardinals is $5.5m this season and $16.5m next year. That’s a decently light charge anyway, but the bottom dwelling Cardinals are not concerned with dead cap in the least right now.

New Team Cap Hit

As for a team like the Eagles, picking up Sweat is an easy decision financially because of the above. $29.25m of his $38m in guarantees have already been paid. For 2026, his salary is around $9.75m with a $1m roster bonus. That’s the rest of the guarantee right there (his $1m roster bonus is not considered a guarantee if you are wondering why the math isn’t mathing). Essentially, a trading team is getting him on a 1 year deal. He has $17m base salaries and $1m roster bonuses each of the next two seasons, but those are both reasonable if he keeps up his production, restructurable for cap relief, or easy to post June 1 cut if needed.

As for this season, the Eagles would likely restructure the $9.75m and probably add more void years to his contract. This brings the hit down to $4m ($1.3m base + $1.7m restructure +$1m roster bonus). The excess $6.75m from the restructure would be pro-rated over the next 4 seasons for cap purposes.

Jonathan Bleeding Greenard

What Will It Take?

Sweat may be 29 years old, but he just had his best season with 12 sacks and 4 forced fumbles. The Cardinals are selling as high as possible. How high is that? They have to be looking for a Day 2 pick.

In a way, Sweat is the opposite of Jonathan Greenard. Greenard had a history of high production before an injury plagued 2025 sapped his value, whereas Sweat was healthy and great this year but comes from a career of solid but not elite stats. The Vikings had wanted a 2nd, but no one was paying that price. Instead, the Eagles coughed up two 3rds for the Vikings pass rusher. Why? The possibility of that elite production. The Cardinals will hope for the same, but won’t get it. While Sweat has a high floor, he does not have the same ceiling as Greenard. Think of Sweat as a high end #2 EDGE as opposed to Greenard being a solid #1 option.

My guess is that on 3rd round pick or possibly a little more gets it done. That might be too high a price for the Eagles though. While we will have a 3rd round comp pick coming for Jaelan Phillips, we do not technically have it yet and can’t trade it. Because of Greenard, we do not have a 3rd of our own. Would a 4th and 5th get it done? I have to think someone beats that.

How about an outside the box idea: Tanner McKee for Sweat straight up. The Cardinals need a QB and the Eagles are running out of time to trade their backup QB on his rookie contract. The lowest they would probably go on a draft-pick centered McKee deal is a 3rd rounder. It makes a lot of sense. I will not stop beating that drum!!!

Contract Numbers: Spotrac

1. Their QB situation is one of the worst you will ever see. The presumptive starter is Jacoby Brissett, a career back up. Aside from the many obvious problems with that, HE’S HOLDING OUT! If he’s not the answer, then they move to rookie Carson Beck who I have zero faith in as a pro. ↩︎