Josh Sweat was stunned when the Cardinals' 2025 schedule was released.
He saw that the Cardinals opened the preseason against the Chiefs and the season opener would be against the Saints. Instantly, Sweat thought back to his 2½-sack performance against Kansas City in the Super Bowl, played at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
"To be real, that's all I've been thinking of," the outside linebacker said. "It couldn't be more of a coincidence for me. But man, it's exciting. I love playing in their atmosphere."
Sunday's regular-season opener will mark Sweat's first time wearing a white-and-red uniform since his days at Florida State. He spent his entire seven-year NFL career with the Eagles, a stint littered with highlights connected to the Saints.
In 2020, with Jonathan Gannon as his defensive coordinator, Sweat recorded his first career two-sack performance against the Saints. "The Saints have been good to me," Sweat said with a smile.
Two seasons later, Sweat picked off Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott for a pick-six and his first interception. It's a play which has stuck with Saints coach Kellen Moore, who was the Cowboys' offensive coordinator in 2022.
"His length, his size, and his football I.Q., his ability to diagnose things is really special," Moore said. "He can make some really special plays."
Sweat's ability was a key factor in the Cardinals' decision to sign him to a four-year, $76 million deal. The Cardinals also re-signed Baron Browningand drafted Jordan Burch in hopes of improving a pass rush room which finished in the bottom 10 in pressure rate and total pressures.
Browning, who said he was unaware there was a narrative surrounding pass rush need, said the unit isn't fazed by external factors. Outwardly, there is an expectation for a leap in production starting this weekend going against an inexperienced quarterback in Spencer Rattler and an offensive line which will be without starting left guard Trevor Penning.
"Nobody is going to be our hardest critics but our own selves and everyone in that room," Browning said. "We want to go out there and dominate each week and obviously everybody gets got, but we want to get ours more than we get got."
The Saints' inexperience is something the Cardinals hope to capitalize upon. In back-to-back years, New Orleans has drafted offensive tackles in the first round with the selections of left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. and right tackle Taliese Fuaga.
Defensive coordinator Nick Rallis likes to use a rotation with his edge rushers. According to TruMedia, 49 percent of Zaven Collins' defensive snaps were as a pass rusher. In the same amount of regular-season games played, Sweat's snap percentage as a pass rusher was significantly higher at 62 percent.
Gannon said there is a range of snaps Sweat will see as part of the rotation. While the coach didn't want to describe it as a learning curve, he said the play time might fluctuate depending on the flow of the game and certain personnel packages.
"We are going to get guys rolling and everybody is going to get a chance," Sweat said. "We can all be full speed that way."
The season opener presents many unknowns. In Sweat's case, the unknown has familiarity and the date he once had circled is only 24 hours away.
"We look real good," Sweat said. "We've been coming together as a group and that's all I can really ask for. We connect and we've been doing a lot of stuff together, and that's what it is going to come down to because then it's like, let me play for that guy. That's what it needs to become and that's how it's going to play out."
