The Arizona Cardinals activated Josh Sweat from the PUP List on Monday. The hope is that he’ll be able to provide a boost to their pass rush, but to do that, he’ll need to be ready to go before the regular season starts.
Sweat had initially been put on the PUP List at the start of Training Camp in July. He was dealing with a knee injury at the time and missed voluntary workouts with the Cardinals. While he had been at Mandatory Minicamp in June, he didn’t participate in practice at the time. Luckily, Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur shared on Wednesday that he’s “right on schedule” after being activated.
“It was great to have him out there. When you get some of those pieces out there, you can feel it with the other guys, too. They were happy to see him,” LaFleur said. “It’s according to plan. It’s right on schedule in terms of when he was going to get out there.”
Since getting activated, Sweat has largely been doing individual work to ramp up, rather than being overly active in team drills. That continued on Wednesday during joint practice with the Green Bay Packers before their preseason game on Friday.
That preseason game on Friday is going to be the only opportunity for Sweat to get work in game action before the start of the regular season. Still, it seems unlikely that the Cardinals would want to risk an injury if he isn’t ready to go.
Arizona Cardinals Players React to Josh Sweat Returning
Josh Sweat is going to be an important presence on the field for the Arizona Cardinals this season. In particular, if he’s going to have an impact on the defensive side of the ball, then the Cardinals’ outlook on defense is going to be in a much better place, and the players know that.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen him out in his uniform. It was refreshing for us,” tight end Trey McBride said Monday. “Eager to see him get going. He’s obviously a tremendous player. He’s a guy who’s been in this league for a long time and had a lot of success. To have him back on the field is going to be huge for us.”
That’s important for the Cardinals. It’s also important to have a player who the defense likes playing with and makes the players around him better on the field.
“Just seeing him and his big smile … having him out there, seeing the No. 10, seeing the jersey fly around is exciting,” defensive lineman Roy Lopez said. “There is so much anticipation watching him play. He is a player of that caliber. You love to play with a guy like that.”
Trade Rumors Plagued the Cardinals, Josh Sweat
In this offseason, when Josh Sweat was missing voluntary workouts with the Cardinals, there were consistent rumors that he would be traded. That notably included rumors that he’d be sent to the Green Bay Packers.
There were then reports pushing back on the reports that Sweat could be traded. He obviously wasn’t. However, those initial reports made the rumors hang over both the Cardinals and Sweat this offseason.
Prior to the 2025 season, Sweat signed a four-year, $76 million deal with the Cardinals. He did that to join Jonathan Gannon, his defensive coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles and the then-Cardinals head coach. Gannon would, of course, get fired and has since joined the staff in Green Bay, fueling those specific rumors.
No trade has happened, obviously, and now Sweat is focusing on getting healthy for the 2026 season. There, he’ll hope to bounce back and make an impact for the Cardinals.
Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur Shares Update on Josh Sweat Amid Return From PUP List