This morning it has now been reported by Tom Pelissero that the Eagles have been fielding calls for pass rusher, Josh Sweat. The 26-year-old defensive end has been coming on strong for the Eagles over the last several seasons. In his last three seasons, Sweat has put together 25 sacks, 59 QB hits, and 29 tackles for loss.
He’s been, undeniably, one of their more productive pass rushers since being drafted. While many other teams were skeptical of drafting Sweat due to the history of his knee injury. The Eagles took a chance and drafted Sweat in the 4th round of the 2018 NFL Draft. With the contract demands of Haason Reddick, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Eagles are fielding calls for Sweat. They could be attempting to see which player would be more valuable in the trade market
Sweat is heading into the final year of his contract and at 26 years old could be more valuable to other teams as opposed to Reddick who is turning 30 years old. This could also tell us that the team will focus on adding a pass rusher in either free agency or the NFL Draft.
After last season’s collapse, the team is redesigning their defense in favor of putting Vic Fangio in the best position to succeed. This is not a way for the team to wave the white flag but instead a way to free up some more cap space in favor of building a contender in a quicker fashion. If the Eagles can stock up on more draft capital then it could lead to them trading for a bigger piece at a more important position of need.
Howie Roseman has never been one to shy away from making bold moves to give his team the upper hand. If the Eagles trade Sweat with a post June 1st designation then they’ll save $4.3 million in cap space this season but would take on a dead cap of $14,315,000 that would be spread out over two years.
While this move is not set in stone, you should expect the Eagles to move on from either Haason Reddick or Josh Sweat while the other would probably receive an extension and stay with the team for the next 3-4 seasons. Reddick has been the more productive pass rusher of the two but you can’t ignore the consistency that Josh Sweat has played with over the last three seasons. I would note that Sweat was very vocal in his displeasure with the defense during last seasons collapse.
Eagles interested in Bryce Huff?
Dianna Russini of the Athletic is now reporting that the Eagles could be zeroing in on pass rusher Bryce Huff. The 25-year old pass rusher could be in line for a decent pay day after his breakout season last year. Huff tallied 10 sacks and 21 QB hits with the Jets last season and would be a great fit for what the Eagles are building around Fangio’s scheme.
Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire
