The Packers may need to make another bold move if they want to shore up their pass rush before Micah Parsons is ready to go.
Parsons is still coming back from an ACL injury, and it could be more than a month before he’s able to suit up. That leaves Green Bay staring at an early-season hole on defense, even if the opening stretch of the schedule isn’t as punishing as what comes later. The obvious answer is to look around the trade market for help off the edge.
One name that fits cleanly is Josh Sweat. Because of his connection to new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, FanSided’s Austen Bundy sees Sweat as a natural target for the Packers. The catch is that landing him would not come cheap.
In Bundy’s proposed deal, Green Bay would send a 2027 third-round pick and a conditional 2028 fourth-round pick to Arizona. In return, the Cardinals would also send back a 2027 sixth-round selection.
“Sweat comes with a $9.78 million salary cap hit, and Green Bay recently cleared $9.3 million in space. His contract could be reworked, but there would need to be some sort of compensation from the Cardinals to incentivize the extra financial gymnastics," explained Bundy.
"That's where this potential deal would involve a 2027 sixth-rounder heading to the Packers. Otherwise, Arizona gets its top-100 pick in a third-rounder next April plus an additional pick the following year as the rebuild continues."
That kind of price tag is where the debate starts. Green Bay’s draft cupboard is not exactly overflowing.
The team already gave up its 2026 first-round pick in the Parsons trade and does not own its own first-rounder in 2027, either. It does have Philadelphia’s first-round pick, though that selection is expected to land in the 20s.
Giving up a third-rounder in a strong draft would be a real gamble. The Packers do have two fourth-round picks, and the extra sixth-rounder would help fill a gap, but the cost would still force some serious consideration.
On the field, though, Sweat checks a lot of boxes. He has already played under Gannon in both Philadelphia and Arizona, and last season he was one of the few bright spots for a Cardinals team that struggled. He started all 17 games and finished with 30 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 17 quarterback hits, 12.0 sacks, four forced fumbles, two passes defensed, and one fumble recovery.
For Green Bay, the appeal is obvious: Sweat would give the defense a proven option while Parsons works his way back, and he’d be a valuable safety net if Lukas Van Ness gets hurt or again falls short of expectations. The Packers already made their big swing for Parsons, but with their top pass rusher still sidelined and not guaranteed to be back at full burst right away, adding another established edge threat would take a lot of pressure off everyone involved.
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