Josh

Sweat

Sweat barely practiced this summer, supposedly dealing with a knee injury, while the Cardinals brass assured reporters that there was nothing to see here. The player was reportedly displeased with the team, but as of Week 1 practices, he remains a Cardinal. He is on track to face the Chargers this weekend.

Sweat wasn’t happy with the Cardinals this offseason and chose to stay away from the team during mandatory minicamp and OTAs. Now that he’s been activated from the PUP list, he’ll have roughly three weeks to get up to speed with the team and new coaching staff. Sweat 30 tackles and 12 sacks last season while also forcing four fumbles and remains one of the top pass rushers in the league when healthy.

Sweat has been on the PUP list for the entirety of training camp and has not worked out with the team in any way, shape, or form this offseason. Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur said: “Yeah. I mean, there’s different parts of injuries and stuff like that that, you know, are...and I shouldn’t even call it injuries...but just getting himself right to be ready to roll. So, again, I like where he’s at. I know everyone probably is not believing me on that one, but again, I only try to speak truth to you guys.” Uh huh. Well anyway, we have no idea if Josh Sweat will play again any time soon. It certainly would appear from the outside that Sweat is pushing his leverage towards a trade despite the Cardinals’ denials.

Reporters pressed LaFleur about Sweat’s status on Friday, asking about both Sweat’s health — he is currently on the physically unable to perform list — and his previously reported discontent. LaFleur attempted to reassure reporters that he is not at all worried about Sweat’s status, but these are reasonable questions. Per LaFleur, the team and player are “on the same page,” and that Sweat has “never expressed one bit of discontent” to the team. This is tough to get a clear read on. Hopefully, Sweat returns soon.

The Cardinals also placed CB Garrett Williams, LT Paris Johnson Jr. and TE Tip Reiman on the physically unable to perform list. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport did not specify whether these are active or reserve listings. Sweat let it be known he was unhappy in Arizona this offseason. He attended mandatory minicamp but did not practice. Williams suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon rupture in December. Johnson missed time with a knee injury last year. Reiman (ankle) was expected to be “ready to roll” for training camp.

Only the Cardinals could find a way to turn offseason team activities in a year in which they are projected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL into a dramatic exercise. Brissett looks to be pushing all his available leverage on a potential contract extension, though the fact that there’s really been no report that the Cardinals are looking to do something with him seems to be very telling. As for Sweat, his name has been bandied about in trade rumors but, again, the Cardinals don’t appear to have much interest in dealing him at this time.

Josh Sweat is also present and accounted for after the pass rusher, like Brissett, opted out of voluntary OTAs. Brissett was rumored to be planning to attend camp, in part to avoid any fines that would come with staying away, but how much he participates in drills will be worth keeping an eye on. Brissett continues to hold out hope for a pay bump after earning the QB1 job with his 2025 performance. His 2026 base salary of $4.88 million puts him in range with most backups across the league.

Sweat joined the Cardinals last season, but is now staying away from the offseason program and letting it be known he’s unhappy, according to Graziano. If traded, the Cardinals would have to eat a significant dead cap charge and the trade compensation will likely reflect that. Graziano mentions the Patriots and Cowboys as teams with potential interest.

This contradicts reports from last week that the Cardinals had received calls from potential suitors for Sweat as the veteran remains unsatisfied with his current contract situation. Sweat, who last season signed a four-year, $76.4 million deal with Arizona, racked up a dozen sacks and 17 quarterback hits last season for the bottom-dwelling Cards defense. It looks like, for now, Sweat will remain with the Cardinals. Arizona ranked 28th in QB pressure rate last season.

That would seem to make logical sense considering Sweat followed Jonathan Gannon to Arizona and has been linked to reports indicating he in unhappy with his situation following the firing of his former head coach. Nothing substantial has been passed from a reputable source but this goes down as another notch towards a potential trade for the veteran pass rusher. Sweat’s contract could be a tricky one to unload after signing a four-year, $76.4 million deal with the Cardinals prior to the 2025 season.