Josh Sweat Unloads After Pro Bowl Snub
TEMPE, Ariz. – In a league where individual accolades are scarce currency, Arizona Cardinals edge rusher Josh Sweat feels he’s been robbed. On Wednesday, the eight-year veteran didn’t offer the standard diplomatic answers about focusing on the team or controlling the controllables. instead, he delivered a raw, unfiltered rebuke of the Pro Bowl selection process that left him on the outside looking in.
Named only a Pro Bowl alternate despite a career-year stat line, Sweat made his position clear: he earned a spot, the fans voted him in, and yet, he was left off the roster.
Sweat’s frustration is rooted in cold, hard production. He is currently the only player in the NFC with double-digit sacks to be excluded from the initial Pro Bowl roster. He has matched his career high with 11.0 sacks and leads the entire NFL with 4.0 forced fumbles.
Reunited with head coach Jonathan Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis who coached him during his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles Sweat has flourished in a scheme that allows him to play free and attack from both sides of the line. Yet, when the rosters were announced, he found himself looking up at players with lesser resumes.
Sweat pointed specifically to the voting breakdown. While New York’s Brian Burns secured a spot, two Los Angeles Rams rookies, Byron Young and Jared Verse, also made the cut over him. Young shares the same sack total as Sweat, while Verse sits at 6.5 sacks nearly half of Sweat’s production.
The sting of the snub is sharper this year because Sweat felt he finally checked every box. In previous seasons, he admitted that a lack of popularity or fan engagement might have cost him. This season, however, he was the second-leading vote-getter among NFC outside linebackers.
“The fans said, ‘He should be the guy; we want him in.’ My play showed that I should be in,” Sweat argued. He suspects the disconnect came from the player and coach voting blocks. “This year, I got the fan vote and you’re going to tell me all of a sudden the players and coaches don’t respect me anymore? Man, hell nah.”
For Sweat, the omission feels like a negation of his grind. He described the feeling as if his “efforts were wasted,” noting that the Pro Bowl remains one of the few ways a defensive player can be immortalized as one of the league’s elite for a given season.
“I’m upset because there’s only two individual things that you can get and it’s Pro Bowl and All-Pro. And I got one taken away from me. I’m just flat out saying it was taken away from me — and it ain’t the first time.” – Josh Sweat, Cardinals Edge Rusher
This quote encapsulates the veteran’s mindset. It isn’t just about a trip to Orlando; it’s about legacy and fair compensation for performance. Sweat views the accolade as a validation of his work, and its absence as a personal slight.
Josh Sweat has been here before he was an alternate in 2021 and eventually played due to an injury to Nick Bosa but this time feels different. With the fans on his side and the stats on the board, his exclusion highlights the often murky and subjective nature of NFL all-star voting. For the remainder of the season, the Cardinals will have a pass rusher fueled not just by the desire to win, but by a burning need to prove the rest of the league wrong.
