If you want to understand 1 thing about the public-facing comments of NFL general managers — what they say with a microphone in their face — it’s that you shouldn’t believe a word that comes out of their mouths.
That’s why, when a report comes out that the Arizona Cardinals are not interested in trading Pro Bowl edge rusher and Super Bowl champion Josh Sweat, no right-thinking team that needs an edge rusher should pay attention to it.
No Super Bowl contender needs an edge rusher worse than the Denver Broncos do right now, with their own star, Jonathon Cooper, placed on the NFL commissioner’s exempt list with no return in sight following a pair of offseason arrests.
The Broncos should at least kick the tires on a trade and dangle a 2027 or 2028 2nd-round pick in front of the Cardinals to see if they’ll bite and give up Sweat — a player who has already proven he could be the difference in playing in a Super Bowl or watching from home.
ESPN: Cardinals Not Interested in Trading Sweat
The great thing about a possible trade for Sweat is that there’s zero chance the value goes up from a 2nd-round pick in the next few weeks as teams start the regular season.
Even without Cooper, the Broncos are still probably going to be really, really good. Even with Sweat, the Cardinals are still going to be really, really bad. Trading for Sweat is a long play to make sure they can close out a season — something that didn’t happen in 2025 with a home loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
While the Cardinals seem to be saying they won’t trade Sweat, the more likely scenario is all of that talk is being done to drive up his trade value — cheap skate teams are likely throwing 3rd- and 4th-round picks at Arizona for Sweat right now.
“The Cardinals are telling interested teams they aren’t planning to trade Sweat, and I believe that to be true,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote on Wednesday. “No team has won or lost any games yet. Sweat is an important part of the Cardinals’ defense, and if they still plan to be competitive (as most teams do at this point), the right move is to keep him. They’ve already paid a $7.22 million option bonus for this year and owe him $9.78 million in base salary for the season … Arizona is going to continue to get calls. Though I believe the team doesn’t want to trade him, I also know these things change. And if Arizona is out of it in late October and/or Sweat indicates he doesn’t want to be there anymore, you’ll hear his name ahead of the deadline.”
Josh Sweat Got Big Money After Super Bowl Win
Sweat, 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, had 2.5 sacks for the Philadelphia Eagles in a 40-22 Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs in February 2025 and signed a 4-year, $76.4 million free agent contract with the Cardinals 1 month later.
In 2025, he had a career-high 12.0 sacks this season to go with 12 tackles for loss, 4 forced fumbles and 16 QB hits and started all 17 regular-season games.
Not making the Pro Bowl with those numbers did something to Sweat emotionally.
“I’m upset because there’s only two individual things that you can get and it’s Pro Bowl and All-Pro,” Sweat told ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss. “And I got one taken away from me. I’m just flat out saying it was taken away from me — and it ain’t the first time … It’s like I don’t know what else I could have done at that point. I don’t know what else I could have done. Now previous years, maybe you could have said he didn’t have the popularity, maybe he didn’t get the fan vote. This year, I was second in fan voting for NFC. It’s like, what else did they want me to do?”
Broncos Urged to Trade for $76 Million Super Bowl Champion