NFL Analysis
2/18/25
6 min read
2025 NFL Free Agency: 5 Best Fits For Philadelphia Eagles Edge Josh Sweat
The Philadelphia Eagles could be losing multiple free agents this offseason, and multiple teams will be making aggressive offers for star pass rusher Josh Sweat.
Sweat enters free agency after one of the best years of his career. Along with 8.0 regular-season sacks and another 2.5 in the playoffs, he finished the combined season with 66 pressures and 30 defensive stops. Now, the 27-year-old is set to enter free agency as one of the top available pass rushers.
After staying in Philadelphia on a one-year restructured deal for 2024, Sweat is likely now seeking a big payday in free agency. There are only a handful of teams with the cap space and positional need to take a swing on a player like Sweat, so let's break down the most likely landing spots for the star pass rusher.
Josh Sweat Top Landing Spots
New England Patriots 
The New England Patriots have money to spend and glaring needs almost everywhere, so it makes sense that they'd be in the market for a top pass rusher like Sweat.
EDGE may not be the team's biggest need, with Keion White showing some flashes, but the defense still needs to be able to put more consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Patriots ranked just 23rd in pass rush win rate this past season, and White's 45 pressures led the team by a wide margin.
Sweat would immediately be New England's most dominant pass rusher, and the Patriots could offer him a more than competitive deal with more than $120 million in cap space entering free agency. Plus, Sweat will be just 28 years old in the 2025 season, meaning that he still has a few years of his prime to be a part of a team with an emerging young quarterback in Drake Maye.
Los Angeles Chargers
Khalil Mack has announced that he plans to at least play for one more season, but now that he's entering free agency, it sounds unlikely that he'll be coming back to the Los Angeles Chargers.
While that leaves a big hole in the Chargers' defense, general manager Joe Horitz has more than enough resources to replace the future Hall of Famer. Along with having three picks in the top 100 of the 2025 NFL Draft, they also have more than $65 million in cap space, the fourth most of any team in the league.
Signing with the Chargers would allow Sweat to be slotted into a premier role on a defense that already has the pieces in place to be competitive. They had the ninth-ranked defense by DVOA in 2024 and still have other promising EDGE talents, Joey Bosa and Tuli Tuipulotu, who can take some attention off of him.
Green Bay Packers
Brian Gutekunst and the Green Bay Packers have spent significant resources in the last few years trying to bolster their pass rush. Unfortunately, a scheme change to a 4-3 defense combined with players struggling to take a leap forward has the team in the market for a pass rusher yet again.
Despite so much improvement from the defense under new coordinator Jeff Hafley, the Packers still ranked just 26th in pass rush win rate this past season. Rashan Gary improved as an every-down player, his pass rush productivity took a hit, while first-round pick Lukas Van Ness failed to have much of an impact in his second NFL season.
The transition to a 4-3 defense might take a minute, but Sweat has the physical tools at 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds to handle those responsibilities, as long as the Packers are willing to shell out a significant portion of their available cap space to land him in free agency.
Arizona Cardinals
According to Pro Football Focus, the Arizona Cardinals haven't had a pass rusher break 60 pressures since Chandler Jones had 75 in 2019. As if that wasn't bad enough, the numbers from this past season are even more troubling.
Only one player for the Cardinals had more than 30 pressures in 2024. That was Zaven Collins, who led the entire team with just 31 pressures on the season. Not surprisingly, the Cardinals finished 28th in pass rush win rate as a team because of that lack of an impact pass rusher.
Sweat should be a top-tier priority for this Cardinals team. The offense has gotten some premier investments through the draft in recent years with Paris Johnson Jr. and Marvin Harrison Jr., but the defense needs more impactful players to be a playoff-caliber unit.
The Cardinals' $63 million in cap space is more than enough to fix those pass-rushing issues by signing a premier player at EDGE like Sweat.
Philadelphia Eagles
As defending Super Bowl champions, the Eagles would love to bring back as many players from this year's team as possible. Unfortunately, that's going to require a lot of moves to become a reality.
With less than $25 million in cap space, the Eagles have significant players hitting free agency. That includes Sweat and contributors like Milton Williams, Zack Baun, and Mekhi Becton.
With the franchise tag window opening on Tuesday, the Eagles could try to keep one of these players around for at least one more season, but that requires significant cap space up front to try and keep them in the building to negotiate a long-term deal.
More than likely, the Eagles will try to restructure a handful of deals with players still under contract to clear enough cap space for at least one or two of these free agents to come back. While Nolan Smith is emerging as an effective pass rusher, the EDGE position is simply too valuable for the Eagles to let a player like Sweat walk without at least trying to work a deal to keep him in Philadelphia for the next few years.
