Regardless of how you felt about Rashan Gary’s performance in 2025 (here, maybe this will JOG your memory), trading him to the Dallas Cowboys does leave a clear roster hole. The Packers still have Micah Parsons and Lukas Van Ness, but they need another capable pass rusher if they want to try and progress in 2026. The choice for the front office is now between patching this spot or aggressively upgrading it.
Two options have been circulating in fan fiction rumor mills the past few weeks: Josh Sweat and Calais Campbell. Are either of them viable? Maybe! Am I going to talk about them anyway? You bet! Hey, it’s March 19th.
Josh Sweat represents the high-impact route. The veteran pass rusher has reportedly requested a trade from the Arizona Cardinals, with a contract situation that makes a deal plausible before key bonuses trigger. He’s a proven producer in his prime who can win one-on-one and consistently pressure quarterbacks.
The fit would be immediate. Sweat could step in and upgrade a group that will be without Micah Parsons at the start of the season, before becoming a very high end number two pass rusher when Parsons returns. The downside, of course, is cost: acquiring him would likely require rea; draft capital and a financial commitment.
By contrast, Calais Campbell offers a different solution. Even at an advanced age, Campbell remains a productive and respected interior presence, capable of stabilizing a run defense and providing pass rush in spurts. His experience and leadership could potentially raise the floor of the defensive line.
Signing Campbell would be a patch job, and it is unclear what his age 40 season would look like (yes, he turns 40 in September, I quadruple checked it). He’s obviously no longer an every-down disruptor, so the calculus for GM Brian Gutekunst is whether or not rotational help and additional locker room leadership will be enough.
The TL;DR is that Campbell would be the safer, short-term stabilizer, while Sweat would be a bet on the pass rush taking another step forward.
One more note on the timeliness of revisiting these two options here today: Josh Sweat is due a $7.22 million roster bonus on March 20th. That’s tomorrow, for those playing along at home. So we’ll know in extremely short order if the Cardinals are game to move him.