Brian Gutekunst opens up about Josh Sweat trade rumors and reveals a telling message about the Packers’ edge rusher group
Packers general manager shuts down the idea of acquiring the veteran from the Arizona Cardinals.
The Green Bay Packers will not acquire Arizona Cardinals edge defender Josh Sweat before the regular season begins. General manager Brian Gutekunst made that abundantly clear, dismissing the trade rumors entirely and expressing confidence in the edge rushers already on the roster. With Packers edge defender Micah Parsons starting the season on the physically unable to perform list, the perceived need at the position fueled speculation that Green Bay would pursue Sweat, who has a connection to defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon from their time together with the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals.
Gutekunst didn’t mince words when asked about the possibility of a deal with Arizona, though.
“No one from our organization has had a conversation about Josh with anybody from Arizona,” Gutekunst said. “Some things come out of thin air, somebody’s making stuff up, because that’s never ever happened.”
The Packers will enter the regular season with only four edge defenders on the 53-man roster: Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell, Brenton Cox Jr., and rookie Dani Dennis-Sutton. Collin Oliver starts the season on injured reserve alongside Parsons on PUP. Green Bay also added undrafted rookie Nyjalik Kelly and veteran Arron Mosby to the practice squad to provide depth.
Gutekunst trusts the group he has
Despite the thin numbers on the active roster, Gutekunst expressed genuine comfort with the six-man edge defender group across the roster and practice squad.
“I’m really excited about the group we have,” Gutekunst mentioned. “We only kept four on the active roster, but on the practice squad we were able to keep Nyjalik as well as Arron Mosby. Arron gives us a lot of comfort because he can go in there. He’s played a lot, not only on defense but on special teams as well. So again, everything’s fluid. As you know, things can change, but those six guys I feel pretty good about.”
The potential need at edge rusher exists because Parsons will inevitably miss at least four games while recovering from his ACL injury, possibly a little bit more. That timeline created the expectation that the Packers would add a veteran to bridge the gap.
Why the Packers passed on Sweat
Sweat’s connection to Gannon made the speculation feel logical. He produced some solid seasons under Gannon in Philadelphia and again last year in Arizona. The financial structure of a potential deal wouldn’t have been prohibitive either. The Cardinals already paid Sweat’s option bonus, so the remaining 2026 cost would be a little more than $10 million. Beyond that, Sweat has two non-guaranteed seasons in 2027 and 2028, where he’s slated to make $18.1 million in each of those years.
But the Packers still don’t want to make that move. Sweat is a 29-year-old player, and Green Bay has no interest in surrendering draft compensation for a trade while also absorbing the financial commitment that comes with him.
