The rumor mill has been swirling with chatter of a potential Josh Sweat trade to the Green Bay Packers. Of course, this could all be wild speculation. Time will tell whether it was legitimate, but one thing to keep in mind is the Josh Jacobs situation. Could his off-the-field issues hold up Green Bay’s potential pursuit of Sweat?
For what it’s worth, Jacobs was at Green Bay’s practice on Tuesday, and head coach Matt LaFleur called it “business as usual.” However, his pending legal troubles are casting a dark shadow over the team.
If Jacobs faces charges and is found guilty in court, or if the NFL finds wrongdoing in its own investigation, Jacobs will miss significant time. In such a case, the Packers would have to pivot to add to the running back room.
Fans and analysts have floated the idea of calling up the Arizona Cardinals for Tyler Allgeier, James Conner, or Trey Benson. After taking Jeremiyah Love No. 3 overall in April’s draft, the Cardinals won’t have a use for all three of those other running backs.
People have also tossed around other names like Alvin Kamara. But unless any of those players are released, the Packers would have to make a trade, likely giving up draft compensation, to bring in one of those running backs.
Bringing Sweat over from Arizona would cost draft capital. Does Green Bay really have enough to go around to bring in Sweat for the pass rush and help at running back?
It isn’t out of the realm of possibility that general manager Brian Gutekunst could conduct two separate trades to land Sweat and a running back, but it’s extremely unlikely.
In an ideal world for Green Bay, Jacobs would get cleared of any wrongdoing, face no suspension, and the Packers could pursue a trade for Sweat. How likely is that to happen, though, and on an expedient timeline? If Sweat truly is available and other teams come calling, Gutekunst could have to push the chips into the center of the table for Sweat and hope that Jacobs will be good to go for Week 1.
There is the fallback option of finding another running back in free agency, with names like Joe Mixon and Najee Harris still available. Both are coming off lost seasons from major injuries. It’s not an inspiring alternative.
Green Bay has to consider a few factors in a potential move for Sweat.
The first question would be, how vital is it to add someone like Sweat to this roster?
He has a strong connection with former Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, now Green Bay’s defensive coordinator. Sweat excelled under Gannon in Philadelphia and signed with Arizona last offseason. Sweat went on to have a career-high 12 sacks for Arizona.
Gannon has praised Sweat as a player and a leader, and you can bet he would be giddy if Gutekunst were able to bring Sweat over in a trade.
“Guys pick his brain about certain things,” Gannon said regarding Sweat last year. “He’ll help in that way, because he’s played a lot of ball. He’s been successful. I always say, ‘You want to know ball, talk to the players.’ He’s one of those guys you can talk to.”
The other obvious connection is the LaFleur brothers being the head coaches in Green Bay and Arizona, respectively. It doesn’t guarantee any smoother trade talks, but it sure doesn’t hurt.
Adding Sweat would give the Packers a hell of a pass-rushing duo when Micah Parsons returns. If Lukas Van Ness finally starts to live up to his first-round-pick status, it becomes a terrifying trio for opposing teams.
After losing Rashan Gary and Kingsley Enagbare in the offseason, the Packers spent a fourth-round pick on Penn State’s Dani Dennis-Sutton to help on the edge. Outside of that, Green Bay is banking on internal improvements from others at the position.
All of that could change with a trade for Sweat. Still, the Packers must decide if they need to wait things out on the Jacobs front before potentially spending draft capital to trade for reinforcements at a different position.
