The Cardinals are staring down the Nov. 10 trade deadline, and Josh Sweat is right in the middle of the noise.
Arizona enters the final stretch at 3-6, already having added a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick through earlier deals. With less than 48 hours left before the league’s deadline to buy or sell, the Cardinals could still be active.
Sweat’s name has been floating around the rumor mill for much of the offseason, and the chatter hasn’t gone away. After Arizona’s road loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the edge rusher was asked directly about it and made it clear he isn’t spending much time on the speculation.
“Nah, I ain’t worried about that s--,” Sweat told reporters after the game in Seattle.
“I know ya’ll have been waiting to ask me about that but I don’t know what’s going on with that. That ain’t even up to me.”
When pressed on whether he had a preference for what happens before Tuesday, Sweat didn’t bite.
“Come on, bro. I don’t know.
I don’t worry about that. I just said - come on, man.”
He later added, “I’ve been doing this for a long time, but this isn’t my first time hearing about this s--- during the deadline. I ain’t worried about it. I’m trying to play, that’s all I care about.”
Sweat has not been a frequent media presence, so the comments stood out. He reportedly asked for a trade after the Cardinals fired Jonathan Gannon this offseason, but Arizona kept him on the roster. He skipped all offseason team activities, including training camp and preseason, yet has still appeared in all nine regular-season games.
On the field, his season has been uneven. He started slowly, then later it was revealed he had an undisclosed procedure that was confirmed not to be related to his ongoing knee management. From Weeks 4-8, he recorded three sacks.
Even with Sweat brushing off the rumors, the trade talk has only picked up. NFL insiders including Jordan Schultz, Albert Breer and Josina Anderson have all suggested the chatter is real, and a league source said there has been another uptick in speculation around Sweat, while also noting the financial hurdles tied to taking on his contract.
Sweat is 29 and is in the second year of a four-year deal with Arizona. He has no guaranteed money left for 2027 or 2028.
The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 2:00 pm MST.
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