Josh Sweat, Arizona Cardinals
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(Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
The Green Bay Packers have a handful of free-agent options to fill the void left by an injured Micah Parsons off the edge to start the upcoming season, but the trade market can provide a couple of opportunities as well.
Aaron Schatz of ESPN on Thursday, June 18 suggested that the Packers round out their group of outside linebackers by signing Jadeveon Clowney to play alongside Lukas Van Ness until Parsons’ return, then function as a situational pass-rusher as the season progresses.
“The Packers need another veteran who can help fill in for Parsons and then provide depth once he returns,” Schatz wrote. “Clowney’s 22.4% pass rush win rate last season would have been near the top of the league if he had enough pass-rush snaps to qualify for ESPN’s rankings. He had 8.5 sacks for Dallas, and the Packers could also use his ability to set the edge against the run.”
Clowney — or other veteran free agents like him, such as Joey Bosa and Kyle Van Noy — is likely a one-year play for Green Bay, or whichever team ends up signing him. So there is an argument for the Packers to trade a meaningful bit of draft capital for a younger, longer-term solution off the edge after dealing Rashan Gary to the Dallas Cowboys earlier this offseason.
One player Schatz mentioned as a trade candidate later in his article is Josh Sweat, who is no longer enamored with the Arizona Cardinals after just one year in that locker room.
Packers Can Offer Josh Sweat Perfect Scheme Fit Under New Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon
Jonathan Gannon Bobby Babich
GettyGreen Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon (left) and head coach Matt LaFleur (right).
Sweat inked a four-year contract worth $76.4 million in Arizona last offseason after spending the first seven years of his NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles. While in Philadelphia, Sweat played for then-defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon in 2021 and 2022. The defensive end earned the sole Pro-Bowl honors of his career in Gannon’s system in the first of those two years.
It was Gannon who held the head coaching position for the Cardinals leading into 2025, when Sweat signed with the franchise. He went on to produce a career-high 12 sacks last season, but Arizona finished 3-14 and fired Gannon after the campaign ended. The Packers later hired Gannon to join their staff as defensive coordinator.
Meanwhile, Schatz wrote Thursday that Arizona’s finishing move of the offseason should be to deal Sweat for a solid draft asset.
“The Cardinals have almost no chance of contending this season given the quality of their three division rivals and the questions they have at quarterback,” Schatz contended. “But they have a chance to turn a player who had 12 sacks last season into a significant 2027 draft pick. A Sweat trade would help any number of playoff contenders.”
Josh Sweat Would Likely Cost Packers in Neighborhood of 3rd-Round Draft Pick
The Packers may not need to offer much for Cardinals pass rusher Josh Sweat.
GettyArizona Cardinals pass-rusher Josh Sweat.
Green Bay certainly qualifies as a playoff contender after making the postseason in each of the past three campaigns.
The Packers should be concerned with keeping their heads above water during the first month or so of the season with Parsons sidelined, and a trade for Sweat is a longer-term solution to that immediate problem than paying a mercenary pass-rusher like Clowney to come in for a single year.
Sweat, who will play the season at 29, is worth roughly a third-round pick, according to Christopher Knox of Bleacher Report. The Packers own their third-round selections in both 2027 and 2028. Green Bay also has two fourth-round picks next April, one of which is courtesy of Dallas via the Gary trade.