Are the Green Bay Packers going after Arizona Cardinals star Josh Sweat?
Conflicting reports have emerged about whether the Green Bay Packers are pursuing a trade for Arizona Cardinals star Josh Sweat.
Easton Butler of 247 Sports reported that the Packers and Cardinals are working on a trade involving Sweat.
However, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic is hearing the opposite of Butler.
Sweat, who led the Cardinals with 12 sacks in 2025, is one of the more notable players who chose to skip early OTAs. According to John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM Phoenix (h/t Tyler Drake of AZ Sports), Sweat's absence is not injury-related. Cardinals insider Kyle Odegard has "been hearing for a while" that Sweat is not particularly happy in Arizona.
None of this guarantees Sweat wants out or the Cardinals will be willing to move him. If the 29-year-old edge-rusher is made available, though, the Packers should be very interested in Sweat.
After all, superstar Micah Parsons will miss the start of the 2026 season recovering from his ACL tear.
For Arizona last season, Sweat put up 12 sacks, 20 solo tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 17 QB hits in 17 games. That is production the Packers could use, especially since we don't know when Parsons will return.
Parsons had a stellar first season with the Packers. He finished with 12.5 sacks, 19 solo tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 27 QB hits in 14 games.
One of the best players in the league, Parsons made the Pro Bowl last season despite tearing his ACL against the Denver Broncos. The Penn State product has made the Pro Bowl every season of his NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys and Packers.
Green Bay didn't win a game after Parsons tore his ACL against the Broncos. The Chicago Bears beat the Packers in the wild-card round of the 2026 playoffs.
Chicago outscored Green Bay 25-6 to win the contest. The Packers could have used Parsons, who likely would have made Caleb Williams' life more difficult.
Parsons has a lot of motivation in his ACL recovery, especially after what Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said during an interview with Adam Schein on Mad Dog Sports Radio.
Jones said the Cowboys feel really good about the Parsons trade.
The Packers got Parsons, while the Cowboys received Kenny Clark, a 2026 first-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick.
"We feel really good about it," Jones said, via Pro Football Talk. "Obviously much respect for Micah and what he stands for and how he plays and the caliber of player he is. At the same time, we feel good about what we've added via that trade. You look at a guy like Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark. They're alpha players who are not only great players on the field, but they're leaders in the meeting rooms, how about they go about their business in the offseason. Just bring great leadership to this team.
"I just feel very optimistic that we have the right pieces in place. Ultimately, the decision we made was that one player is not worth four or five good ones and we feel like that's where we're going to end up here in a good spot. We had that opportunity there. Didn't feel like we were one player away last year, but I certainly feel like we're putting the pieces together to give us an opportunity to go do what our fans deserve, what we want, which is to go and try to win the big trophy."
Once Parsons is cleared by doctors to play next season, expect him to go nuclear on opposing QBs.
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