Packers must – Green Bay are still coping with the loss of their pass-rush explosiveness after Micah Parsons’ torn ACL, even as the Los Angeles Rams swung this offseason for a new defensive juggernaut by trading for Myles Garrett. A Packers insider says talks with the Arizon
Not long ago, the Green Bay Packers were being discussed like an early lock for the Super Bowl. They traded for former Defensive Player of the Year Micah Parsons, and the thinking was simple: if this was the move that turned the defense into an easy NFC contender, the postseason path would be clear.
Then the calendar flipped, and the pressure shifted. A year later, it’s the Los Angeles Rams who are now being treated as the team others chase—after they traded for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.
For the Packers, the message is uncomfortable. When a division rival adds an elite edge rusher like Garrett, it doesn’t just raise the bar. It compresses the margin for error. Green Bay can’t afford to treat their pass rush like a “one great player” problem when the NFC is clearly getting sharper.
That’s where the rumored move comes in. A few hours after the Garrett-to-Rams trade news broke, a Packers insider reported that the team is in talks with the Arizona Cardinals, targeting former Philadelphia Eagles pass-rusher Josh Sweat.
Sweat’s résumé is built around exactly the kind of production that keeps opponents from settling into games. He recorded 12 sacks last season for the Cardinals. The impact wasn’t limited to one stretch either—his earlier numbers point to something steadier. Over his last six years, he has had at least six sacks in each season. His 2022 mark was 11 sacks, and he also logged eight sacks during Philadelphia’s championship run in 2024.
Green Bay’s need is obvious, because Parsons is no ordinary centerpiece. When he’s on the field, he creates problems for offensive lines, often drawing double-teams and making other pass rushers easier to find. Fans have felt that gravity.
But Parsons’ torn ACL midway through the season exposed the other side of the equation. If he’s the multiplicative force, his absence makes the defensive line’s shortcomings harder to ignore—something that became plain during games when Green Bay couldn’t lean on his presence.
For the Packers, the goal isn’t to simply “have Parsons help the edges.” It’s to get actual help from the edges so Parsons can do what he does best: destroy offensive lines from nearly any position on the field.
Sweat, according to the reported target, would be an immediate upgrade at that role.
There’s also a football-language reason this pairing makes sense. Green Bay’s defensive coordinator situation has changed, and so has the coaching map for Sweat. With Jeff Hafley’s departure, the new defensive coordinator is Jonathan Gannon, the former Cardinals head coach. Sweat has a history with Gannon’s scheme—playing for him during Gannon’s time as a defensive coordinator in Philadelphia. Last season in Arizona. Sweat’s role again fit the type of edge work the system typically asks for. before Gannon was fired.
All of this is arriving with the Packers in a different posture than the one they were accustomed to last year. Green Bay aren’t just trying to prove they can compete as a favorite now. They’re trying to keep up with a Rams team that. with Garrett in the fold. has swung the balance toward a higher ceiling for the entire NFC.
The easy remedy would be to solve the problem in the offensive trenches. Green Bay could look for an offensive tackle in free agency. But that’s not really where the team’s options appear to be—there’s also the complication that any offensive lineman traded mid-season is usually moved for reasons other teams have already priced in.
So if the offseason logic is limited on the offensive line, the defense has to do what it can to slow down Garrett and the other NFC contenders while Green Bay’s offense tries to catch up.
Underneath the headlines, the Packers’ offseason challenge is simple: once the Rams made their move for Myles Garrett, the question stopped being “who looks best on paper?” and became “who can hit the same speed on the field—starting with the edges?”
Green Bay Packers Los Angeles Rams Myles Garrett Micah Parsons Josh Sweat Arizona Cardinals Jonathan Gannon Jeff Hafley NFL news pass rush trade rumors