Josh Sweat and the Cardinals: Who is holding whom hostage?
By Walter Mitchell
Ever since Josh Sweat asked the Cardinals to be traded, on January 5th, the day that Jonathan Gannon was fired as head coach, he has not trained a single day at the team facilities with his Arizona teammates.
That's 219 days.
This has been a veritable 219-day hostage.
The question is --- who is holding whom hostage?
The Cardinals have maintained from the get-go that they have no interest in trading their best (and perhaps only?) sack artist.
The Cardinals keep hinting at Josh Sweat's "injuries" --- perhaps a lingering knee ailment?
Yet, Josh Sweat appeared in all of the Cardinals' 17 games last season and at no point did he appear to be rushing the passer at a diminished capacity.
Mike LaFleur this week alluded once again to "injuries" --- as a plural term. Yet, he quickly amended the term by saying, "I shouldn't even it call it injuries."
So, what are these so-called injuries?
The only thing that makes sense is the hurt it caused Josh Sweat to lose the head coach he came to Arizona to play for.
Then, after asking for a trade, there has been the hurt of knowing he is being held by the Arizona Cardinals against his will.
One thing appears to remain crystal clear --- Josh Sweat does not prefer to play this season, or ever again, for the Arizona Cardinals.
Knowing Josh Sweat's trade request since January 5th, the Cardinals could have tried to bolster their talent on the edge via free agency, trades or the 2026 NFL Draft.
Instead, Monti Ossenfort did absolutely nothing.
Meanwhile the Los Angeles Rams traded for Myles Garrett.
The 49ers who expect big things from Nick Bosa and 2025 1st round pick Mykel Williams, added to their fire power on the edge by drafting Texas Tech's Romello Height who recorded 38 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 56 QB pressures,10 sacks and 2 forced fumbles last season rushing opposite David Bailey.
The 2025 Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks added to their edge arsenal of DeMarcus Lawrence, Derick Hall and Uchenna Nwosu by signing Dante Fowler Jr. (UFA DAL). Those 4 rushers combined for 241 QB pressures and 27 sacks last year in regular season and post-season games.
In talking about Josh Sweat's holdout from the team, Mike LaFleur insists, "I like where he's at." LaFleur then concluded his remarks with a kind of "trust me bro" gesture of reassurance.
Mike LaFleur continued, "I know everyone probably is not believing me on that one, but again, I only try to speak truth to you guys."
Mike LaFleur has been refreshingly up front and honest about the specific nature of players' injuries.
But he is not being specific about Josh Sweat's "so-called" injuries, calling them of a private nature, yet then says, "I shouldn't even call it injuries."
So, it is very difficult to trust that Mike LaFleur, in this case, "likes where he's (Josh Sweat) at."
The reality is that tomorrow night, Mike LaFleur, for the first time as an NFL head coach is playing his starters versus in a pre-season game versus the Las Vegas Raiders, who are doing the same.
And yet, the Cardinals best defensive pass rusher on an otherwise woeful defense most likely won't even be on the field with his Cardinals' teammates in any capacity.
Instead, Sweat will be sitting a home nursing his injuries, perhaps wondering whether he should play at all this season, until the Cardinals give him the trade he has been spending the last 219 days hoping for.
No, Josh Sweat won't be in Vegas.
He will be home betting on himself.
The Cardinals picked up his 2026 $7.22M signing bonus back in March. His 4-year contract included $39M in guaranteed money, which essentially means his contract is a 2-year deal. Bear that in mind.
Ideally, Josh Sweat would like to be traded to a team of his choice, who will then sign him to a new 3–4-year contract. At age 29, coming off a 3-sack bonanza of a performance in helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl in 2024 and then busting out with a 12-sack season with the Cardinals in 2025, the time for a new contract is ripe for the picking.
Josh Sweat could elect to sit out all the way to the trading deadline.
If he remains a holdout, then it becomes very clear that he is holding the Cardinals hostage --- and not the other way around.
How can anyone, including Josh Sweat himself, like where he is at right now?
How does anyone "like" the concept of "weird"?
From NBC Sports:
Cardinals continue to be weird about Josh Sweat
If Sweat really wants out, not working with him on being traded is the wrong thing to do IMO.
ReplyDeleteThis article made me think about Mike LaFleur as HC. He left a team that has the best odds of winning the Super Bowl this season to coach a 3-win, worst team in a division that is arguably, the best division in football. On top of that, LaFleur is working for an organization that has an average head coaching tenure of only 3.3 years since moving to AZ owned by a guy who inherited the team. This team hires mostly first-time head coaches who come in guns a blazing all stoked with optimism and end up leaving with their head down, tails between their legs like they have just received a frontal lobe lobotomy. I'm really curious where LaFleur will be 3 seasons from now. Will he go against the odds and experience success in the desert, or will he be out of a job with a tarnished resume that lists his last employment working for an owner who received the worst 2025 report card from the NFLPA. That's like being an unemployed stockbroker in the early 1990s with your last place of employment listed as Stratton Oakmont. Anyway, just as I wished the previous 11 head coaches the best of luck, I do the same for LaFleur but the money I place on his coaching tenure in AZ won't be based on blind team loyalty.
Like.
DeleteJosh Sweat is an asshole who should have no problem playing for big bucks from assholes.
ReplyDeleteJosh Sweat skips OTAs, ghosts mandatory minicamp, then discovers a PUP-list injury the second Gannon's gone and the trade request leaks — despite that same knee banking 12 sacks in December. Miraculous timing. But here's the part everyone forgets: the Eagles let him walk. Seven years, a ring, and the smartest front office in football looked at Josh Sweat and said "go get paid somewhere else." That wasn't a mistake — it was an evaluation. The only team dumb enough to overpay was ours, $76.4M and two years guaranteed, and we didn't even do it for the player-we did it for the coach.
Yes, 61, great point! Howie Roseman let him walk after watching him dial up 3 sacks on Mahomes to help the Eagles win Super Bowl LIX. That says everything about how they valued him, doesn't it? Even though they have been feeling uneasy about their edge talent ever since.
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