In case you haven’t heard, the LA Rams made a small trade on Monday afternoon. They added Myles Garrett, maybe the best defensive player in the league as they go all in on a Super Bowl run.

The Green Bay Packers made a similar move last offseason, adding Micah Parsons. At the time it was viewed in a similar manner – a big all in swing to take advantage of where the Packers roster was at.

It’s worth noting that the Rams situation is not the same as the Packers. Primarily because the Rams know that they have only one or two more seasons with QB Matthew Stafford. The why doesn’t change the what however. What has happened is that another NFC team has made a big move, and if Green Bay wants to remain competitive then they may need to make one or two more big moves of their own.

Should Josh Sweat Be A Green Bay Packer

There has been a lot of noise around the Packers and current Arizona edge Josh Sweat. While the media has certainly mentioned this as a potential move, the rumors really started picking up steam on Monday with this:

Now, to be clear Butler is not an Adam Schefter or Ian Rapoport or even a Ricky Scoops. But he has gotten the occasional thing right, including being very early on the Garrett to LA news.

Is Sweat the right move for a team that a season ago thought their roster was good enough for a Super Bowl? I think the answer can be found with just a few simple numbers. The first one is 15.5 and the second one is 55.

15.5 is the amount of sacks combined between Lukas Van Ness, Barryn Sorrell, Colin Oliver, Brenton Cox Jr, Aaron Mosby and Dani Dennis Sutton. Yes DDS is a rookie and yes Colin Oliver missed most of last season, but the number is 15.5 all the same.

Our second number is 55, which is how many sacks Josh Sweat has had over an 8 year career. Breaking that down further, 12 of those sacks came last year under then Arizona HC and now Packers DC Jonathan Gannon.

Micah Parsons will be back before midseason by all accounts, but until then the Packers as currently constructed are making a huge wager on internal growth from current players. While that model has helped Green Bay stay consistently good, if they want to take another step in an increasingly loaded NFC, they’ve got to add more fire power. We saw last year that good pass rush can mitigate weaknesses in the secondary, and once Parsons went out it those weaknesses became far more pronounced.

Sweat is no Parsons obviously, but would be an excellent band aid until Parsons can return, and then additionally should be able to take advantage of being the number two rusher in a way that Rashan Gary wasn’t able to last year.

What Will it Cost the Packers?

By all accounts the Cardinals are currently looking for a 3-4th round draft pick in exchange for Sweat. If that’s the case then the Packers should be on the phone every day with the Cards until it’s done. The Packers will likely have 11 picks in next years draft.

Sweat reportedly has the Packers as his first choice, and there’s the obvious connection between the two teams head coaches.

If Green Bay needed any more incentive, then the fact that both Philly and the Cowboys have reportedly reached out should be enough to get Green Bay to pull the trigger. The Rams getting Garrett is bad enough without having to watch another NFC hopeful load up at your expense.

The NFC North and the NFC in general is shaping up to be a bloodbath this year. If the Packers want to keep up they can’t afford to sit on their hands.