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The Philadelphia Eagles got one of their biggest wins in franchise history on Sunday, earning their second Super Bowl victory ever in a 40-22 blowout win against Kansas City in Super Bowl 59. The Eagles stopped the Chiefs from completing the first three-peat of Super Bowl wins in NFL history. Now the Eagles can celebrate their victory for the rest of the week before transitioning into offseason mode.
Philadelphia won the Super Bowl on the backs of its defense. The Eagles managed to waltz into halftime up 24-0 due to their defense completely shutting down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
The Eagles logged six sacks and three turnovers during the Super Bowl. One of those turnovers was an incredible pick-six by rookie Cooper DeJean that put the game into blowout territory in the second quarter.
Edge rusher Josh Sweat also had an incredible game. He finished with six total tackles and two-and-a-half sacks. Sweat also forced a key pressure that resulted in an interception by Zack Baun.
Unfortunately, the writing appears to be on the wall that Sweat will leave Philadelphia during free agency. This is not due to either side wishing to part ways, but instead the realities of managing the salary cap. Philadelphia only has roughly $18 million in projected cap space to work with this offseason. One reason why the Eagles don't have much flexibility is because of $29 million in dead cap, primarily from the contracts of Jason Kelce ($16.44 million) and Fletcher Cox ($10.1 million).
NFL teams often have players on their payroll after they are no longer on the team. This is actually already the case with Sweat himself. Sweat is already on Philly's books with small dead cap figures for the next four seasons. As a result, he is an unlikely candidate to receive another huge extension, partially because that would push his dead cap figures well into the future.
Below we will discuss how much money Josh Sweat may attract on the open market during NFL free agency in March. We will also explore which teams could afford Sweat, and finally make a prediction on where he lands.
How big of a contract will Josh Sweat command during the 2025 NFL free agency period?
Sweat's value will only increase after the Eagles' big win in Super Bowl 59.
In mid-January, Spotrac projected that sweat could command a three-year, $45 million contract on the open market. Since then, that figure has ballooned to a three-year, $56 million contract.
Breaking that contract down, Spotrac believes that Sweat has a market value of roughly $18.8 million per season.
If Sweat earns $18.8 million per season, he will land in the same ballpark as Harold Landry, Bryce Huff, and Alex Highsmith. He would also be just below guys like Jonathan Greenard and aging veterans like Khalil Mack and Von Miller.
Greenard is a great player to use as a comparison for Sweat in terms of overall value.
The Vikings signed Greenard to a four-year, $76 million contract last spring. Greenard was coming off a 12.5-sack season in Houston at the time, and was one year younger than Sweat will be when he enters free agency.
Sweat had 41 total tackles and eight sacks during the 2024 season. However, it is easy to project an increase in that production if he were a full-time starter with a new team.
Ultimately, $18.8 million per season feels like a fair price for Sweat.
Now the question becomes: can anyone actually afford to give him that contract?
Which team will end up signing Josh Sweat?
I see one team making the most sense to sign Sweat in free agency: the New England Patriots.
The Patriots play a 3-4 defense and could use an edge rusher at the outside linebacker position, which makes Sweat a scheme fit.
New England also has a ton of cap space. In fact, they enter the offseason with roughly $120 million in cap space to work with. That makes them the richest team in the NFL this offseason for the purposes of free agency.
Yes, there are other teams where Sweat could be a fit, but I'm not convinced they would be as willing to fork over $19 million per season for an edge rusher.
The Patriots may be an attractive choice for Sweat because of head coach Mike Vrabel. It is possible that Sweat would value playing for a head coach who used to be an NFL linebacker himself. Vrabel has also proven to be a good NFL head coach during his time in Tennessee.
I predict that Sweat will sign with the Patriots on a three-year contract with roughly the same terms that Spotrac projects. It could end up looking like a four-year contract with a void year tacked onto the end instead.
