The Philadelphia Eagles won a Super Bowl last season with a ferocious defensive front. But before Vic Fangio helped lead Philadelphia to the second championship in franchise history, Jonathan Gannon laid the foundation as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator.
Gannon spent two seasons running the Eagles’ defense helping them rank 10th in yardage and 18th in scoring in 2021 and guiding the league’s No. 2 unit in total yardage and No. 8 in scoring in 2022. Gannon was rewarded for his efforts when he was hired as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and he posted a 12-22 record in his first two seasons.
While some mistakes have been made, Gannon helped the Cardinals take a step forward with an 8-9 record last season. But the latest gaffe came on Monday afternoon when Gannon poached one of the Eagles' top free agents at a high price.
Jonathan Gannon Overpays Josh Sweat to Leave Eagles
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Cardinals and Josh Sweat have agreed to a four-year, $76.4 million contract. The deal includes $41 million in guarantees and reunites Sweat with a coach who helped produce some of the best years of his career.
Sweat was a fourth-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft but his breakout didn’t come until Gannon took over as defensive coordinator in 2021. Sweat racked up 46 pressures and 7.5 sacks on the way to his first Pro Bowl selection that season and collected 51 pressures and a career-high 11 sacks during his second season with Gannon in 2022.
Although Gannon left for the Cardinals, Sweat elevated his game. He posted a career-high 70 pressures to go with 6.5 sacks in 2023 and had 66 pressures to go with eight sacks last season. But it didn’t translate to value as Over The Cap estimated his performance at $9.6 million last season.
Spotrac projected Sweat’s market value of $20.6 million but that was based on some of the other contracts in the league. While the Cardinals came in under that number, it still was more than the Eagles were willing to pay as was the case when Haason Reddick looked to get a raise coming off a combined 27 sacks over the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Eagles general Howie Roseman balked at Reddick’s asking price and traded him to the New York Jets for a third-round pick.
The situation between Sweat and the Eagles never came to that, but they had a reason to save their money. Jalyx Hunt had 19 pressures and 1.5 sacks in his rookie year and a notable sack in the Super Bowl. With the Eagles also needing to replace Milton Williams and potentially Mekhi Becton, Philadelphia needed that money to fill the holes on its roster, leading Sweat to be shown the door.
Perhaps Sweat could regain some of the success he had reuniting with Gannon in the desert. But with Sweat set to turn 28 later this month, it looks like the Eagles made the right decision.