6 Eagles Defenders on the Chopping Block After Sean Desai Firing

5. Josh Sweat, EDGE

I don't think the Philadelphia Eagles are going to up and cut Josh Sweat -- he's far too good of a pass rusher -- but I think it's fair to say he's on the proverbial "chopping block" at this point, especially with a new defensive coordinator coming in.

Sweat was not alone in this regard, but it was hard to find a single Eagles defensive front seven player this past season that really excelled as a run defender. The Eagles have a bunch of pass rush specialists off the edge, which is awesome, but this team ranked 20th in the NFL this past season in yards per carry allowed (4.3). Not great.

I think Josh Sweat is on the chopping block for a few reasons. Obviously, the Eagles have a number of options off the edge right now. They have so many guys because they've poured the NFL Draft and free agent capital into that position group. Sweat is entering a contract year and has a very palatable final year with a base salary of just over $1 million and a cap hit of just over $9 million.

But a major reason for that is that the Eagles have kicked the can down the road with Sweat and have added void years to his deal in the future. He's set to count over $21 million against next year's salary cap potentially without even being on the roster. He's got to come through with a much bigger year than we saw in 2023 as an all-around edge player.