Eagles Taking Trade Calls for Josh Sweat, Showing Interest in Jets' Bryce Huff: Report
PHILADELPHIA – Nobody is safe on the Philadelphia Eagles defense, as it should be when it plays as poorly as last year, especially in a historic 1-6 collapse.
First came news that edge/linebacker Haason Reddick was permitted to seek a trade. Then safety Kevin Byard and slot cornerback Avonte Maddox were released.
Now comes a report that Josh Sweat is also on the trade block. The Athletic Insider Dianna Russini reported that the Eagles are open to trading Sweat. She also noted that Philly will aggressively pursue New York Jets rusher Bryce Huff.
A source told Eagles Today of SI that Reddick and Sweat were undisciplined down the stretch when the season was crumbling.
General manager Howie Rosman appears intent on rebuilding that side of the ball for new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, and yes the defense will look much different when the Eagles open the season in Brazil.
It should be noted that the Eagles aren’t going to give either player away. The return will have to match the talent and ability both possess.
Josh Sweat
John McMullen/Eagles Today
Sweat has spent six seasons with the Eagles after being drafted in the fourth round from Florida State. His sack totals rose every year since his arrival, topping out at 11.5 two years ago.
Last year, his total dipped drastically to 6.5. He went eight straight games without a sack to close the season, ending that drought by getting one in the playoff loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Still, Sweat has 35 career sacks.
Looking for a suitor for him makes financial sense. This is the final year of a contract extension he signed at the start of the 2021 season. He has a $9.07 million salary cap charge this year. There are a couple of voidable years after this year, which will make next year’s charge rise to $21.4 million before he comes off the books.
Trading or releasing him before June 1 would bring Sweat’s cap charge down by about $3M and change.
Sweat is also young, with his 27th birthday coming at the end of March. That should make him an attractive trade target.
The decision to possibly move on from Sweat and Reddick indicates the Eagles are going to go all in second-year edge rusher/linebacker Nolan Smith. It also means they will to be players in the free-agent, edge-rusher market.
The tampering period begins on Monday at noon and free agents can be announced on Wednesday, the first day of the NFL new year, at 4 p.m.
Per Russini, Huff will be one of the Eagles’ targets. Set to turn 26 in April, he appears to be an ascending player after posting the first double-digit sack season of his four-year career, which began as an undrafted free agent from Memphis.
Some high-end free-agent rushers the Eagles could look at include the Minnesota Vikings’ Danielle Hunter, who had 16 sacks last year and 87.5 in his career, and Christian Wilkins of the Miami Dolphins who had a career-high nine sacks from his defensive tackle position last year.
Both are in their late though.
Perhaps Chase Young will be a target. He will be just 25 in April. Jonathan Greenard is 26 and coming off a 12.5-sack season for the Houston Texans.
The bottom line is that there are plenty of options on the edge in free agency if the Eagles do part with either Reddick or Sweat or both.
Also, the draft has some players that could make sense. In my mock draft 1.0, I had the Eagles taking Penn State rusher Chop Robinson.
