Trade Proposal: Josh Sweat for Lukas Van Ness and a 2027 3rd

By Walter Mitchell

On the one hand it would seem absurd for the Arizona Cardinals to trade away their best and most productive edge rusher. especially after Monti Ossenfort once again passed on top edge rushing prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft.

An unpleasant reminder. Cardinals' 2026 Team Leaders in Sacks:

* Josh Sweat - 12

* Calais Campbell - 6.5

* Walter Nolen - 2

* Barron Browning - 2

* Zaven Collins - 1.5

The problem is, just as Calais Campbell signed with the Baltimore Ravens to have a chance to compete for a ring, Josh Sweat apparently wants to do the same.

Jordan Schultz

@Schultz_Report

·

14h

Sources: The #Cardinals have received trade calls on Pro Bowl DE Josh Sweat. Sweat had 12 sacks last season in his first year with Arizona and had a close relationship with Jonathan Gannon, whom the Cardinals moved on from.

Typically, when one sees a report from an NFL pundit like Jordan Schultz regarding trade discussions the pundit either had received word from the player's agent or word from the NFL team about the discussions - or both. 

Josh Sweat, the Cardinals' best and most significant free agent signing last year has been holding out of the Cardinals' OTAs. 

After seeing Jordan Schultz's report yesterday and reading that Josh Sweat's preferred trade partners are the Packers, Eagles and Bucs, I reposted a trade proposal that I have been posing for a couple of weeks.

Walter B J Mitchell

@WBJMItch

Trade Proposal:

Packers acquire OLB Josh Sweat

Cardinals acquire OLB/DE Lukas Van Ness and Packers' 2027 3rd round pick (original not their projected compensatory pick)

Most of the reactions on X to the proposal were pushbacks on Lukas Van Ness, like this one from Sean A (@RoyalCardinal).

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Sean A

@RoyalCardinal

·

13h

Replying to

@chuckh3

and

@WBJMItch

Would LVN be a starter, even with how poor our OLB group is? From the outside, he seems a quintessential bust - with no real reason or underlying metrics suggesting he'll have any significant upside. Would personally rather just have a 2nd round pick than a 3rd and LVN.

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Rebuttal:

If the Packers felt the same about Lukas Van Ness, their 1st round pick from Iowa in 2023, then they would not have picked up his 5th year option for $13.75M in 2027.

Last season, Van Ness got off to a good start but suffered a nagging foot injury, that caused him to miss seven games. He was able to return late in the season and finished with good PFF grades for his third year in the NFL (compared to Josh Sweat's 2025 grades):

Overall: Van Ness: 75.5 -------------- Sweat: 74.2

Run Defense: Van Ness: 72.7 ---------Sweat: 69.8

Tackling: Van Ness: 80.4 -------------Sweat: 69.3

Pass Rush: Van Ness: 69.5 -----------Sweat: 73.6

Coverage: Van Ness: 72.2 ------------Sweat: 43.4

This week I have been preparing to show you (on the Red Rain Podcast next Monday) how woeful the Cardinals' defense played last season versus Sean McVay's Rams, particularly versus his bread and butter off-tackle power runs and play-action waggles. During the process, I became very concerned about Josh Sweat's tentative run defense, especially versus their heavy dose of 12 and 13 personnel. It did not look like the "want to" or the proper techniques were there.

Then I did some digging into the game stats. Not only did Josh Sweat play poorly versus the Rams versus the run, but he also played poorly versus the Seahawks and 49ers.

These are alarming stats.

In 6 NFC West Games. Josh Sweat had versus the run a total of:

Tackles: 1

Assists: 2

@SF: 0 tackles, 1 assist

SEA: 1 tackle, 0 assists

@SEA 0 tackles, 0 assists

SF: 0 tackles, 0 assists

LA: 0 tackles, 0 assists

@LA: 0 tackles, 1 assist

In Lukas Van Ness, the Cardinals would have a bigger, stronger edge who is more physical versus the run and, as a tackler, is more sudden, heavy-hitting and reliable.

Here's the #1 thing that needs to change for the Cardinals' defense:

2025 Rams in 2 games versus the Cardinals' defense:

--- 392 yards rushing on 5.9 ypc

2025 Seahawks in 2 games versus Cardinals' defense:

--- 353 yards on 4.4 ypc

LVN's Pass Rushing Talent

Lukas Van Ness has exciting upside as an edge pass rusher.

I believe his career could take off after 3 seasons the way Trey Hendrickson's did.

First 3 Seasons:

Trey Hendrickson: 61 QB pressures, 6.5 sacks

Lukas Van Ness: 69 QB pressures, 8.5 sacks

Physical Comparisons:

Height/Weight:

TF: 6-4. 266

LVN: 6-5, 272

Arm Length/Hands

TF: 32", 9 7/8"

LVN: 34", 11"

40-yard dash/3 cone

TF: 4.65, 7.03

LVN: 4.58, 7.02

Contract Ramifications:

if the Cardinals trade Josh Sweat after June 1:

2026 dead cap would be $5.5M and the

2026 cap savings would be $10.88M.

Lukas Van Ness' salaries:

$3.1M in 2026

$13.75M in 2027.

Jace's Trade Scenarios:

Jace

@AzJace

·

5h

Trade ideas for Josh Sweat I don't know if a trade request came from Josh Sweat (nor do I care) but what I do know is that the #Cardinals have received trade calls on pass rusher Josh Sweat.

These are some very intriguing trade scenarios. kudos, as always, to Jace.

Obviously, I prefer the Van Ness and a 3rd round pick trade.

Conclusion:

Josh Sweat is a first-class pass rusher. If he wasn't asking for a trade, then there would be no reason to trade him.

However, the Cardinals' history of forcing veteran players who have asked to be traded to stay is agonizing because not only did the players spent their last season feeling disgruntled, when the players left the Cardinals, the team got absolutely zero in return value --- in the majority of the cases, not even a compensatory pick. And then those players kept bitching about the Cardinals for years to come.

The epitome was Patrick Peterson whom the Cardinals wound up getting nothing in return for after having turned down the Eagles' generous offer of a 1st round pick and WR Nelson Aguilar.

Unhappy players tend to underperform.

When a player wants out and has significant value on the trade market to be able to get a high value in return is advisable.

The Cardinals can be thankful that Josh Sweat was the one player on the 2025 defense who made a strong case for the Pro Bowl.

Otherwise, no other teams would be interested in taking on his contract.

Red Rain Question of the Day:

What trade scenario for Josh Sweat, if any, would you prefer or suggest?