Should the Rams trade for these Pro Bowl pass rushers?

Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick are available it seems. Could the Rams be a fit for either of them?

The Eagles have over $40 million in cap space but are surprisingly trying to move players Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick for some more relief as they rework their defense for 2024. According to Ian Rapoport the team is fielding trade calls for both pass rushers. That begs the question, could the Rams make a trade for either player?

I do believe it is possible. The Rams have traded for pass rushers Dante Fowler Jr. and Von Miller since Sean McVay became the head coach in 2017. Not to mention, general manager Les Snead has made plenty of other moves in similar fashion. Both players would make sense as fits but let’s discuss what both players bring to the table before we decide who makes the most sense.

Haason Reddick

Photo by Ryan Kang/Getty Images

Reddick is a former 2nd-team All Pro and two-time Pro Bowler. He has totaled 58 sacks in his career since 2017. The Eagles are Reddick’s third team as he was drafted out of Temple by the Arizona Cardinals, took a one year journey with the Carolina Panthers which was by far his worst year as a full-time starter and then settled in nicely in Philadelphia as an Eagle.

He was initially a hybrid edge defender inside linebacker coming out of college. He did finally get the chance to start as a pure edge defender in 2020 when he started a trend of haivng double digit sacks every season from there on. He offers consistent pressure off the edge and has finished at least top 15 in edge pressures in three of his last four starting seasons.

The concern with Reddick is that he’s on an expiring contract which means he’s not guaranteed to be back with your team even if you trade for him, he does turn 30 years of age in September and he’s been an inconsistent run defender.

The good news about Reddick is you are pretty much guaranteed he’s going to win his pass rush reps at least 15 percent of the time and is going to generate at least 60 pressures on the quarterback and double digit sacks to boot.

Reddick has a $16 million cap hit this year with a straight up trade but the Rams if they made this acquisition would likely look to work that number down with the Eagles taking more of the contract on. I do think at the end of the day with his body of work he’s going to bring in at least a third round pick on the trade market. With that said the Rams projected trade package would be a 2024 third round pick for Reddick with the Eagles sending back over a sixth-rounder in return.

Josh Sweat

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Sweat is a former Pro Bowler back in 2021 who has had 35 sacks in his career with the Eagles. He’s been with Philadelphia since he was drafted there in the fourth round out of Florida State back in 2018. The soon-to-be 27 year old has only one season in which he has demonstrated the ability to have double digit sacks. However, this past year was his best year, despite the lack of sack production.

The former Seminole dealt with a massive ACL injury right before he joined the college ranks and concerns about his health pushed him down the board in the NFL Draft. However, he has dealt with some other injuries at the pro level including a neck injury at the beginning of 2023 that did not cause him to miss time. The last three years Sweat has played in 49 games and has started all but three of them.

Sweat’s first year as a full-time starting edge defender was in 2021 where he finished 28th on the year in edge pressures with 46. The following year he finished with just 43 and was 39th in the league but this past year Sweat hit a new level in which he finished 14th with 68 pressures which was good enough to pass Haason Reddick’s 2023 total. Sweat is a much better run defender than Reddick which adds to his overall value not factoring in he’s also almost three years younger.

Sweat’s pass rush win rate is impressive as well. In 2023 he finished 29th, 30th in 2022 and 37th in 2021. He’s really been developed into a rock solid starting edge defender that has flirted with improvement each year. The good thing about Sweat is that his cap hit would just be $4.3 million which would be easy to work around. Due to the fact he doesn’t have the sack production though and his prior injury concerns not to mention his expiring contract, I would put the asking price to a fifth round pick in 2024 and a sixth round pick in 2025.

Final Verdict

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images

I have to be honest, both make sense for the Rams and Haason Reddick offers more “star power” but in reality the best fit for the Rams might actually be Josh Sweat. He’s been the better all-around player lately. Sweat doesn’t get the sack production that Reddick gets but he’s almost three years younger, he’s much better against the run and actually finished with more pressures this year than Reddick to begin with.

I don’t think the Rams can go wrong with either but Reddick has a higher cap hit, the price tag is going to be higher and he feels like he’s hit his ceiling. With Sweat, I don’t think you can say he’s hit his ceiling, the best is still left to come. The biggest concern were the injuries but he’s done a nice job of bouncing back and becoming a reliable football player.

If the Rams can move a 2024 fifth and a 2025 sixth for Sweat that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be interested in pursuing an edge defender via the draft or signing a guy like Danielle Hunter but I think if the offer is possible you have to attempt it. This is a position that is beyond a need after last year. Give Chris Shula a good pass rusher and a good run defender and start building this defense back up to one of the top in the league again.