Eagles to retain former Pro Bowl edge-rusher via restructured contract

Both of the Eagles' top incumbent edge rushers landed on the trade block as of late. While Haason Reddick‘s status remains uncertain, Josh Sweat is staying in Philadelphia.

The Eagles and Sweat reached a restructured contract that will keep the young pass rusher in town, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero report. Sweat will receive $10M guaranteed in 2024, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler, who adds he can collect up to $13M via incentives.

Bryce Huff is coming to Philly on a three-year, $51.1M deal. The Eagles currently have three edge contracts in the same range on their books presently, though Reddick’s status will now need to be monitored. With Huff in place and Sweat agreeing to stay — after coming up in trade talks — Reddick could be on his way out. The Pro Bowler has outplayed the three-year, $45M deal he signed with the Eagles in 2022. While Reddick has said he wants to stay with his hometown team, his status is up in the air.

No guaranteed money remained on Sweat’s three-year, $40M extension, which he agreed to in 2021. The Eagles allowed both Reddick and Sweat to seek a trade and gauge their value. It is a bit surprising Sweat would come back at this rate, given where the cap went this month, but the Eagles would have also needed to view a trade as fair value. The team has determined Sweat will remain an asset this year, his age-27 season.

Sweat and Reddick went cold down the stretch, which became a sore spot for the team as its defense cratered. Vic Fangio is now running Philly’s defense, after serving as a consultant with the team in 2022, and he presumably wanted Huff as one of his starters. With Fangio in a minor role in 2022, Sweat put together his best season — an 11-sack slate — as the Eagles made a run at the 1984 Bears’ single-season sack record. Sweat has not totaled more than eight sacks in a season in any other year, and after a hot 2023 start, the former fourth-round pick went sackless over the season’s final two months. He did drop Baker Mayfield once in the Eagles’ wild-card loss, however.

With Nolan Smith likely set for more playing time, signs would seem to point to a Reddick exit. No known trade offers have emerged, but Huff, Sweat and Smith are now locked in — along with the recently re-signed Brandon Graham — for 2024. Huff can certainly use this season as a platform for a big-ticket free agency deal next year, with the cap rising at rates not seen during the previous CBA.