Josh Sweat Trade Candidate

[Hugepatsfan]

It's worth exploring for sure. Yes, there is a cap, but one of the "silver linings" of being so terrible for a few years and having such garbage rosters is that practically no one was making any money. Now in the last couple of years we've signed some talent and have a few of the draft picks that have panned out coming up for deals, but cap hits on those deals have been and will be backloaded per normal course of business in the NFL.

If we did acquire Sweat, it's fair to say that we'd have more cap allocated to the DL than is ideal between him, Milton Williams, Barmore, DJones and Landry. But that's not permanent and in the short term we're way under allocated at some other positions.

Obviously there are SOME limits, but within reason I don't think cap is really an issue for us acquiring pretty much any player for the rest of this offseason and probably next year or maybe two. Acquiring Sweat and the assumed AJ Brown deal would fall "within reason".

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Sometimes it’s simply a matter of cap economics. The Jamie Collins situation was a great example of that. The Patriots traded him away at the last second of the trade deadline to Cleveland, even though some coping Patriot’s fans said it was due to performance… it wasn’t.

Cleveland made him the highest paid ILB in the NFL and a few years later Belichick reacquired a player fans said he traded away due to performance. The cap exists.

It was definitely performance to some degree. They went out that next offseason and signed Gilmore for $15M/year which was what Collins got from CLE (though I'd have to review structure to know how exactly comparable they were). But if they wanted to pay Collins they could have. To some degree it was a decision of "he's not worth paying vs. investing that elsewhere".

But a key point of distinction is that this team isn't loaded with talent and guys being paid correspondingly like that team was. So while the cap needs to be managed, we're not in the same place as far as needing to make tough calls yet on guys or having limited ability to add.

 

[Wozzy]

It was definitely performance to some degree. They went out that next offseason and signed Gilmore for $15M/year which was what Collins got from CLE (though I'd have to review structure to know how exactly comparable they were). But if they wanted to pay Collins they could have. To some degree it was a decision of "he's not worth paying vs. investing that elsewhere".

But a key point of distinction is that this team isn't loaded with talent and guys being paid correspondingly like that team was. So while the cap needs to be managed, we're not in the same place as far as needing to make tough calls yet on guys or having limited ability to add.

No, they had Malcolm Butler, Chandler Jones and Collins all up for new contracts in roughly the same period. They knew Jones would break the bank, that they could find an afforable replacement for Collins though they waited until the last second, and they knew Malcolm Butler wasn’t worth 1A cornerback money.

They paid one player, Gilmore, because a shutdown corner was the one player they couldn’t replace or replicate. Collins was one of their best defenders, he was an All Pro. The money was the issue, it became an impossible problem when Collins started acting out and free lancing on the field because he wanted a new contract. If cap constraints weren’t a problem then his acting out never would have happened… same with Butler acting out later.

 

[RxJock1120]

He’d cost $24M against the cap, for 2 years. He’s 29 now, birthday is in March so he turns 31 right when he’ll be negotiating his next contract. Seems a safe assumption that he will be going for top dollar then, so not a safe assumption we resign it. Ergo assume it’s a two year rental.

Is he worth $24 million a year for the next two years?

That's a reasonable price for 2 years, but no chance we would be able to resign him. Gonzalez and Drake would need top of the market deals, and we already paid Milton and Barmore. 3rd Round pick is the MOST I would give up. But then again their is a strong indication that he wants more money right away, in which case no way would I trade for him.

 

[TheRainMaker]

J Sweat is way more Productive than D Jones.

Tommy, this isn't even debatable. Jones is a journeyman going on his 5th team in his 8th year and 4th team in 3 years. But the cycle here is - the player is irrelevant until the Pats sign him.

You also heavily defended the mediocre Chaisson as a better player than any other Edge player in the 2025 playoffs. Letting Chaisson walk was an obvious move, but signing Jones was flat out bizarre. Now the Pats are locked into another mediocre player when that money could've been allocated for a better player that may be available.

And this is concern I had for Jones when he was signed - Nobody has a clear cut answer about this guy. The more people you ask, the more inconsistent answers you'll get about him:

Worst: Swapping out K'Lavon Chaisson for Dre'Mont Jones.
'Though Chaisson did get that raise, it was only to $11.5 million on a one-year deal with the Commanders. I would have liked to have seen the Patriots top that offer. Instead, they gave Jones $14.5 million in the first season of a three-year, $36.5 million pact. Jones is a good pass rusher and a solid player, and the Pats were able to get a two-year commitment, but he's also three years older than Chaisson and a more inconsistent run defender.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48817340/2026-nfl-offseason-afc-teams-best-worst-moves-trades-signings-draft-picks-contracts

 

[PatsFan2]

Tommy, this isn't even debatable. Jones is a journeyman going on his 5th team in his 8th year. But the cycle here is - the player is irrelevant until the Pats sign him.

You also heavily defended the mediocre Chaisson as a better player than any other Edge player in the 2025 playoffs. Letting Chaisson walk was an obvious move, but signing Jones was flat out bizarre.

That's Tommy being Tommy: I'm not aspiring to get to His level of Homerism.

 

[PatsFan2]

Tommy, this isn't even debatable. Jones is a journeyman going on his 5th team in his 8th year. But the cycle here is - the player is irrelevant until the Pats sign him.

You also heavily defended the mediocre Chaisson as a better player than any other Edge player in the 2025 playoffs. Letting Chaisson walk was an obvious move, but signing Jones was flat out bizarre. Now the Pats are locked into another mediocre player when that money could've been allocated for a better player that could now be available.

And this is concern I had for Jones when he was signed: Nobody has a clear cut answer about this guy. The more people you ask, the inconsistent answers you'll get about him.

Worst: Swapping out K'Lavon Chaisson for Dre'Mont Jones.
'Though Chaisson did get that raise, it was only to $11.5 million on a one-year deal with the Commanders. I would have liked to have seen the Patriots top that offer. Instead, they gave Jones $14.5 million in the first season of a three-year, $36.5 million pact. Jones is a good pass rusher and a solid player, and the Pats were able to get a two-year commitment, but he's also three years older than Chaisson and a more inconsistent run defender.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48817340/2026-nfl-offseason-afc-teams-best-worst-moves-trades-signings-draft-picks-contracts

D Jones doesn't move the needle for me either. I think him and R Doubs were desperation signings. I doubt either was our First Choices.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Yeah, not sure we need to introduce any drama to the locker room.

 

[TheRainMaker]

D Jones doesn't move the needle for me either. I think him and R Doubs were desperation signings. I doubt either was our First Choices.

They weren't. Granted Gilmore was a shell of himself, but Doubs had shown promise breaking his ankles in the 2023 Wild Card game and made the 49ers sweat in the Divisional Round. That was when I thought he was going to make big strides for 2024, but he's been mediocre since.

 

[PatsFan2]

They weren't. Granted Gilmore was a shell of himself, but Doubs had shown promise breaking his ankles in the 2023 Wild Card game and made the 49ers sweat in the Divisional Round. That was when I thought he was going to make big strides for 2024, but he's been mediocre since.

Now we see why they Beefed up the OL and acquired all those Offensive Players; plus a Pending AJB. Let's hope we have the Football last on Offense in a close game. I think Growing pains are coming for this Defense. Really sucks we have H Landry; he's really just stealing $$$$ now he's Cooked!

 

[mayoclinic]

Sweat's cap hit is probably manageable, if the Pats have interest. Harold Landry will almost certainly be a cap casualty in 2027, saving $14M.

From a pure player perspective, who would you rather have for the next 3 years: Jaelan Phillips, Odafe Oweh, Boye Mafe, or Josh Sweat? Sweat's cap hits are well under those of Phillips and Oweh.

 

[mgteich]

Why would be happy with us?

Why wouldn't he walk out whenever he isn't getting his way?

 

[TheRainMaker]

From a pure player perspective, who would you rather have for the next 3 years: Jaelan Phillips, Odafe Oweh, Boye Mafe, or Josh Sweat? Sweat's cap hits are well under those of Phillips and Oweh.

Phillips, Oweh and Mafe are mediocre. Sweat is the easy choice.

 

[mayoclinic]

QUOTE="mgteich, post: 7276770, member: 1930"]
Why would be happy with us?

Why wouldn't he walk out whenever he isn't getting his way?
[/QUOTE]

Seems like a double standard: AJ Brown is unhappy in Philly, people are fine with trading for him. Josh Sweat is unhappy in Arizona, why would he be happy in NE?

Lots of reasons:

1. He'd be playing for a contender
2. He'd be re-joining Milt Williams, with whom he helped win a SB not long ago.
3. He'd be playing for one of the best and most player-friendly HCs in the NFL.

It seems that Sweat's main issue is that he signed with Arizona because of Jonathan Gannon, who the Cardinals then fired.

 

[mgteich]

QUOTE="mgteich, post: 7276770, member: 1930"]
Why would be happy with us?

Why wouldn't he walk out whenever he isn't getting his way?

Seems like a double standard: AJ Brown is unhappy in Philly, people are fine with trading for him. Josh Sweat is unhappy in Arizona, why would he be happy in NE?

Lots of reasons:

1. He'd be playing for a contender
2. He'd be re-joining Milt Williams, with whom he helped win a SB not long ago.
3. He'd be playing for one of the best and most player-friendly HCs in the NFL.

It seems that Sweat's main issue is that he signed with Arizona because of Jonathan Gannon, who the Cardinals then fired.
[/QUOTE]

If he satisfies Vrabel, obviously we should OK with a trade. The money is certainly right

 

[PatsFan2]

Sweat's cap hit is probably manageable, if the Pats have interest. Harold Landry will almost certainly be a cap casualty in 2027, saving $14M.

From a pure player perspective, who would you rather have for the next 3 years: Jaelan Phillips, Odafe Oweh, Boye Mafe, or Josh Sweat? Sweat's cap hits are well under those of Phillips and Oweh.

I have a Feeling H Landry is going to be cashing unearned paychecks all year.

 

[Drunken Cicerone]

If everything goes well the Patriots are about to have to pay an ELITE PREMIUM for QB and CB that’ll probably cost you $75M a year against the cap. Trying to find room for a “kinda like this guy” at $25M annually is more of a handcuff

 

[PatsFan2]

If everything goes well the Patriots are about to have to pay an ELITE PREMIUM for QB and CB that’ll probably cost you $75M a year against the cap. Trying to find room for a “kinda like this guy” at $25M annually is more of a handcuff

We better hope Gabe Jacas becomes something because I think we're going to need him.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Why would be happy with us?

Why wouldn't he walk out whenever he isn't getting his way?

They just fired the HC he was tight with in Philly (Gannon). When he signed, he was under the impression that the employer wasn't going to fire his HC so quickly (my speculation). It really shouldn't have been a surprise given it was a shock Gannon got another shot in 2025.

 

[patman52]

He’d cost $24M against the cap, for 2 years. He’s 29 now, birthday is in March so he turns 31 right when he’ll be negotiating his next contract. Seems a safe assumption that he will be going for top dollar then, so not a safe assumption we resign it. Ergo assume it’s a two year rental.

Is he worth $24 million a year for the next two years?

How 20 you get 24 miil x2?. I get it as 11mill next year and 19 the following year,