NFL Insider Predicts Dallas Cowboys Trade For Josh Sweat, Names Maxx Crosby As Another Possibility
FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones will add a pass rusher before the Nov. 10 trade deadline, an NFL general manager told Jason La Canfora over the weekend.
La Canfora named Arizona Cardinals edge rusher Josh Sweat as the player he expects Dallas to land in a column for Casino.Guru published Wednesday. The Cowboys were one of six teams he listed as likely to make trades before the deadline. He named Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby as the other possibility for Dallas.
Sweat was the first name in the Cowboys’ entry, and Crosby was listed behind him. La Canfora wrote that Arizona is in full tank mode and will likely make at least three more trades, with Sweat one of them.
“‘Jerry is getting a pass rusher,’ a GM told me over the weekend,” La Canfora wrote. “We think it’s this one, though it certainly could end up being Maxx Crosby from the Raiders.”
Sweat signed a four-year, $76.4M contract with the Cardinals in March 2025, and the deal runs through 2028. Crosby is owed $30M this season and $29M in 2027.
“The Cowboys defense needs help for years to come,” La Canfora wrote. “Owner Jerry Jones needs more than a rental for a few games to try to get into the playoffs. They need dudes they can hopefully build around.”
Josh Sweat Has 2 Sacks Through Six Games For Arizona Cardinals
Through six games, Sweat has 2 sacks, 14 tackles, and 3 tackles for loss. One of those sacks came Sunday in Arizona’s 18-16 win over the Los Angeles Rams, which moved the Cardinals to 2-4.
His first season in Arizona produced a career-high 12 sacks, along with 13 tackles for loss, 17 quarterback hits, and 4 forced fumbles. Philadelphia drafted Sweat in the fourth round in 2018, 130th overall, and he had 2.5 sacks for the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX.
Sweat has wanted out of Arizona since the Cardinals fired coach Jonathan Gannon at the end of last season, La Canfora wrote in an Oct. 12 column. Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur replaced Gannon, and Sweat opened training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort said Aug. 10 in Glendale, Ariz., that Sweat was making good progress and would be on the field in time to get ready for the season opener. Sweat was still on the list that day.
“There’s always a lot of talk that goes around that,” Ossenfort said. “We have no interest in trading Josh. We’re excited to have him. Some of those discussions I’m going to keep private, but excited to have Josh here. He had a good year last year. Excited for more good things this year.”
Arizona would take on about $21M in dead money by trading Sweat, according to Fox Sports. His $17M base salary for 2027 is not guaranteed.
Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker was on Philadelphia’s defensive staff in 2024, which was Sweat’s final season with the Eagles.
In the Oct. 12 column, La Canfora also wrote that multiple personnel executives believe Dallas is well positioned to do business with Arizona.
“Jones has a close relationship with both ownership groups and could probably go over the heads of some of their football people to try to get what he wants,” La Canfora wrote.
Maxx Crosby Remains With Las Vegas Raiders After Baltimore Ravens Backed Out Of Trade
Crosby had 2 sacks and 13 quarterback hits through the Raiders’ first five games. The five-time Pro Bowler and two-time second-team All-Pro has 71.5 career sacks since the Raiders drafted him in the fourth round in 2019, 106th overall.
In March, Las Vegas agreed to trade Crosby to Baltimore for first-round picks in 2026 and 2027. The Ravens backed out after Crosby’s physical raised concerns about his surgically repaired knee, and he stayed with the Raiders.
At the Cowboys’ news conference opening training camp in Oxnard, Calif., on July 28, Jones said Dallas “did not walk away” from talks for Crosby. He also said the Cowboys “understood his injury well.”
On Sept. 30, Dallas acquired cornerback Joey Porter Jr. from Pittsburgh for a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick. Porter has played in 47 career games with 41 starts.
The Cowboys are 2-4 after Sunday night’s 23-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Dallas has 8 sacks through six games. Rashan Gary did not record one Sunday, and Donovan Ezeiruaku has a half-sack this season.
The defense ranks third to last in the NFL in yards allowed per game at 382.5 and is giving up 26.5 points per game. Before the Green Bay game, Dallas hired Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant to work with Parker, who is a first-time coordinator.
Dallas traded Micah Parsons to Green Bay in August 2025 and got defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round picks back. In the Oct. 12 column, a general manager who has made trades with Jones told La Canfora that Jones was still looking around.
“Dude, you know Jerry, he’s going to add a pass rusher,” the general manager told La Canfora. “He knows he [messed up] trading Parsons [to Green Bay] last year. That haunts him.”
Dallas plays at Philadelphia at 7:15 p.m. CT Monday. The Cowboys host Arizona at noon CT on Nov. 1 at AT&T Stadium, and then they play at Indianapolis on Nov. 8. The deadline closes at 3 p.m. CT on Nov. 10.
