5 Josh Sweat replacements to keep the Eagle defense great

2024 wasn’t Josh Sweat’s best season, but it was his best postseason, and he came alive at the perfect time for both the Philadelphia Eagles and himself. There’s no better way to make an absurd amount of money than by sacking Patrick Mahomes 2.5 times in a Super Bowl. Unfortunately, that all but means Sweaty J will leave in free agency.

The Eagles have some question marks at edge rusher this offseason. Bryce Huff needs to get about 1000 percent better, change his contract, or get traded. All the while, we’re waiting to find out if Brandon Graham is going to retire. It’s a tough spot, but for right now, let’s just focus on a Josh Sweat replacement.

Josh Sweat just played like monster, so the Eagles need a monster

The Eagles had the best defense in the NFL in 2024, and they did it without an absolute star edge rusher. Nolan Smith and Josh Sweat ended up being really good, but they weren’t elite. So when we’re looking at guys who could come in/when Sweat leaves, we’re going to be looking strictly at guys that can play, are playing, or have played at or above his level. We're still vibing off of a Super Bowl win, so we're strictly talking big dogs.

Trade for Myles Garrett:

I covered this the other day, but here’s the gist of it: Myles Garrett rocks. He’s a six-time Pro Bowler, a six-time All-Pro, and former Defensive Player of the Year. He’s 29 years old, and he’s going into his ninth season in the NFL. He’s hit double-digit sacks in every single season except for his rookie season. It cannot be expressed enough: Myles Garrett rocks, undeniably. 

At the beginning of February, he requested that the Browns trade him because he wanted to be on a winning team. That makes an incredible amount of sense, and it’s something that’s felt like it’s been coming for a long time. 

The Eagles would have to trade a whole lot to get Garrett. It would definitely have to be at least a first-round pick, after that, it could be a few different things: a second-round pick that could turn into a first-round pick, Kenny Pickett and a second, or maybe Tanner McKee and a third (or something like that). 

Regardless, those trades would be worth it, and the best option would be anything with Kenny Pickett.

Trade for Maxx Crosby:

The Raiders have significantly more juice now than they did during the 2024 season because they hired Pete Carroll as their head coach. Since that’s happened, it seems like there’s been a whole lot less news about everyone on that team being mad, sad, or just genuinely uncomfortable with the way their careers are going to pan out. 

That being said, the team is still in shambles, which puts them in a mega-tough spot. Do they want to smash the reset button and try to start from scratch, or do they want to use their best player as a cornerstone for the franchise? Maxx Crosby could be the guy they trade off to reset, or he can be their cornerstone. 

The best word to describe Crosby is ‘unrelenting.’ He’s 27 years old, a two-time All-Pro, and a four-time Pro-Bowler in his six seasons in the NFL.

If the Raiders were going to trade him (which they probably won’t), they would probably ask for the same picks the Browns would want for Myles Garrett. He’s not worth all of that, but he is worth at least a first-round pick and maybe a second or third, but definitely not two potential first-round picks. 

(Re?) Sign Haason Reddick

This is a tricky one. He left the Eagles after the 2023 season because he wanted more money, he may or may not have been an issue in the locker room, and he’s 30 years old… but he’s a good football player. 

If the Eagles did sign him in free agency, it would probably be on a one-year deal because of his age. That being said, he only played 393 snaps in 10 games with the Jets last season because of his holdout.

So it’s not like he’s an older player who is coming off of a season where he was driven until his tires fell off; he might be relatively fresh.

There’s no way he’s going to have the same production as he did in the 2022 season, where he had 17 sacks and was a snub for Defensive Player of the Year. If he had 2023 production (Pro Bowler with 11 sacks), he would be a great Josh Sweat replacement and a great signing on its own. 

The chances are that he wouldn’t play at that level, but even if he was 80% of that, he’d still be good enough.

Sign Khalil Mack

Khalil Mack is going to be 34 years old on February 22, 2025, and he’s going into his 12th season in the NFL. So if it feels like he’s been in the NFL forever, that’s because he has. If the Eagles signed him in free agency, it would definitely be for a one-year stint (and for his sake, hopefully it would be his last).

He’s a nine-time Pro Bowler, five-time All-Pro, 2016 Defensive Player of the Year, on the 2010s All-Decade team, and a future Hall-of-Famer. He didn’t play anywhere close to his peak in 2024, but that makes sense.

The part that makes this interesting is that he’s been awesome in Vic Fangio’s defense. In 2018, both Mack and Fangio were with the Bears, and in that season, Mack had 12.5 sacks, six (!) forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, one interception, and he was an All-Pro (duh).

Now, that was seven years ago, so it’s irresponsible, dumb, and wrong to think that he could match that kind of a season, but he’s shown that he can be great in this defense. That might not sound super important, but Bryce Huff is an example of a player who can’t do well in the Fangio scheme.

Draft Abdul Carter

There’s a very, very good chance that Penn State’s Abdul Carter is going to go super high in the 2025 draft. He’s explosive, bendy, fast, good in coverage, and all-around dominant. No matter where he goes, he’s going to be amazing. If the Eagles are going to get him in the draft, they’re going to have to trade up for him. 

The real kicker here is that the dude wants to be an Eagle. He took a picture with Jalen Carter after the Super Bowl, and he was wearing a custom-made Eagles ‘Let’s Hunt’ hoodie with his name and number on the front.

That’s a wild thing to do for a guy who has absolutely zero control of where his professional career is going to take him. Just because he wore that, the football gods are going to send him to the Giants. They’re cruel, unfair, unjust, and poetic sometimes.