Arizona’s Josh Sweat is once again a name to watch as the trade deadline approaches, and this time the buzz is tied to his contract.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Cardinals outside linebacker is looking for an updated deal and is expected to attract interest from teams before the in-season deadline on November 10.
Sweat’s status has been a talking point for months. He was away from the team for much of the spring, then spent most of training camp on the PUP list while dealing with an injury that the team kept quiet about. Sweat said only that he had an offseason procedure and that it wasn’t on his knee, which remains the extent of the detail he or the Cardinals have offered.
Even with all that uncertainty, Arizona turned away trade inquiries over the summer. After Week 1, Sweat made it clear he wanted to stay put.
“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.”
Sweat is 29 and came into the league as a fourth-round pick by the Eagles in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Florida State. He finished the last season of his four-year, $3.05 million rookie deal and made a base salary of $920,000 in 2021.
He was set to hit unrestricted free agency in 2022 before landing a three-year, $42 million extension. After playing out that contract, he was on track to become a free agent again in 2025 when he signed his current four-year, $76 million deal with Arizona.
Through three games in 2026, Sweat has three total tackles and one tackle for loss.
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