Official 2026 Free Agency/Offseason/Non-Draft Thread

[pbmax]

Sweat got paid a bonus already by the Cardinals in 2026 so his cost and cap hit have already gone down a bit. Similar to McManus and the reverse of Hobbs, who some speculated might get his money to bring his contract down and make him more tradeable. He got the axe instead.

[Joemailman]

Good to know that the dude ain’t injury-prone. Seems like he wants to be a Packer. Get it done.

Btw, could you or the Mailman switch avatar? The Snoopy avatar is confusing me. I honestly thought the Mailman made the above quote.

Like this one better?

[Anti-Polar Bear]

Like this one better?

Still confusing. I do all my Packerrats browsing and posting on mobile, so the avatar is the first thing I look at before reading a specific post. If the avatar is familiar, the brain skips the username. The two Snoopy avatars cause confusion in the brain.

I ain’t a Karen like red, so I am merely suggesting, not demanding, avatar changes.

[Patler]

He's had a knee issue that dates back to a terrible knee injury in high school. He slipped to the 4th round of the NFL draft because of failed physicals. Obviously, he's been able to play through it or fully recovered.

As near as I can tell, in the 7 years since his rookie season, he has missed 5 games, but three were when he was inactive for the final games of the seasons. In two of those seasons, he played all their playoff games, and in one they weren't in the playoffs. Two games were clearly missed due to injury in 2020. His rookie year he didn't play early, and ended the year injured, but since then he has been quite reliable.

[Patler]

Still confusing. I do all my Packerrats browsing and posting on mobile, so the avatar is the first thing I look at before reading a specific post. If the avatar is familiar, the brain skips the username. The two Snoopy avatars cause confusion in the brain.

I ain’t a Karen like red, so I am merely suggesting, not demanding, avatar changes.

I have had the same avatar since the JSO site and have never used a different one. If I change it now I won't recognize my own posts!!!

[Patler]

However, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic put rumors of a potential Packers trade for Sweat to rest — for now.

“Sorry to rain on the parade, but I’m told Brian Gutekunst hasn’t discussed a Josh Sweat trade with anyone. Not a thing at this point,” Schneidman shared on X.

Maybe noting to it at all?????

[texaspackerbacker]

You are referring to Sweat I assume?
What injury issues? I haven't heard that.
I don't think he has missed a game due to injury in five years.

Maybe I just was paying too much attention to "media pukes" on YouTube (call me a hypocrite hahaha), but the guy recited several things: a "life threatening" internal bleeding episode which he is supposed to be completely healed of now, a neck injury which he was carted off the field for - which supposedly is no longer a problem, and ongoing knee and ankle injuries - which have been nagging but haven't kept him out of games.

I'm neutral about getting him. If we do pull the trigger and make the trade, I suppose I'll come around to liking it, but I don't want the Packers to overpay for him. We don't really need him. We already have at edge: in addition to Parsons, Van Ness, Sorrell, Oliver, Cox, DDS, and Kelley (the UDFA). no way they keep seven, maybe not even six, and virtually all of those guys would seem to be NFL quality.

[Joemailman]

There are reports that Aaron Donald is contemplating coming out of retirement to play for the Rams.

[Joemailman]

Ian Rapoport
@RapSheet

This has gained some steam on social media, so just to provide some clarity: #AZCardinals edge rusher Josh Sweat is not being traded. Not to the #Packers or anywhere. Carry on…

[pbmax]

Both the trade demand and the likely destinations were promoted by Sweat's agents I'd expect.

[Joemailman]

Then again, one year ago we were 3 months away from Parsons being traded. Can't really blame Sweat for wanting out. 29 years old on a dead end team. He has knee issues that require maintenance. Played every game last year, but only 47% of snaps. His number of years left as a player may be very limited.