ARIZONA -- Since Jonathan Gannon's arrival to the Arizona Cardinals, there's been a few key missing ingredients to help turn the organization around.
One of the biggest absences has been at pass rusher, where the Cardinals hadn't possessed a legitimate sack artist on the edge in either of Gannon's two seasons in the desert.
Enter: Josh Sweat.
Sweat was inked to a four-year, $76.4 million contract this past free agency cycle after leading the Philadelphia Eagles' defense to a dominant win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, where Sweat brought Patrick Mahomes down multiple times.
Now, Sweat will be tasked with leading the charge for Arizona's pass rush - though ESPN doesn't believe crazy numbers are coming.
Arizona Cardinals OLB Josh Swea
Jun 10, 2025; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals linebacker Josh Sweat (10) puts on his helmet during minicamp at the teams Arizona Cardinals Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
ESPN's Seth Walder ran sack projections for the league's top 50 pass rushers, and Sweat's 6.7 expected sacks ranked 43rd in their estimations.
"The Cardinals are hoping for Sweat to significantly beat this forecast considering the four-year, $76.4 million deal they handed him this offseason. To be fair to Sweat, the model does not consider postseason data, so it's missing his incredible Super Bowl performance," wrote Walder.
"Eight sacks wasn't awful in the regular season, but he recorded that production on an elite team and in a season when his pass rush win rate dropped precipitously. Over the past four seasons, Sweat's pass rush win rate has dropped from 24% to 22% to 20% to 11%. Now he'll be playing on a team that will likely have fewer leads and lesser defensive talent beside him."
Arizona Cardinals OLB Josh Swea
Jun 10, 2025; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals linebacker Josh Sweat (10) during minicamp at the teams Arizona Cardinals Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Many in Arizona believe Sweat can continue reaching the quarterback at a high level for a few reasons.
Most notably, he had his best seasons under Gannon and Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis - who both coached Sweat previously in Philadelphia before making the move to Arizona.
The Cardinals also bolstered their defensive line and secondary over the offseason - which should only help Sweat and Arizona's other edge players. While the Cardinals aren't quite on Philadelphia's level in terms of carrying the "elite" label, this Cardinals unit surely isn't one to gloss over.
Sweat debuted at No. 95 in the NFL Top 100 list - you can read more about that here.
Given the prior history and price tag Sweat arrives with, hitting under seven sacks would be underwhelming.