NFC Notes: Josh Sweat, Jared Verse, Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks

Cardinals

The Cardinals signed OLB Josh Sweat to a four-year, $76.4 million deal this offseason. DC Nick Rallis was Sweat’s linebackers coach with the Eagles in 2021-2022, and he has long been impressed by him.  

“I love Sweaty,” Rallis said, via CardsWire. “He’s a phenomenal person, phenomenal teammate, but the player, he’s gonna bring violence in the run game, and that’s ever since I’ve been with him. I put on the tape when we got to Philly of the year before and I said, ‘Holy cow, this guy can set an edge.'”

Rallis also points out that Sweat can set the edge against the run and pass. 

“On top of that, he can get after the passer,” Rallis said. “So that’s ultimately what you want out of that position. You want a guy who collapses edges in the run game and gets after the passer in the pass game. So I’m excited to link back up with him.”

Rams 

Rams OLB Jared Verse finished with 4.5 sacks in his rookie year last season, but feels he left “around 10 sacks on the field.”

“Yeah, I was doing a lot of things but I probably left around 10 sacks on the field just from, ‘Hey, a little too inside. A little too this, a little too that. Not taking the extra step.’ And looking at that, I’m like, ‘Damn, that’s not happening no more so the things I can do now is a whole different conversation,’” Verse said, via RamsWire.

Verse is confident he’ll record more sacks in 2025 and is going into next season with a better understanding of his footwork. 

“All I know is it’s going to be up because I’m not giving them up like I was last year. I learned to take that little extra step, keep my feet underneath me and I’m taking everything I got this year,” Verse said.

Verse learned to slow things down as he rushes quarterbacks and takes an “intentional” approach. 

“It’s being more intentional in it. Like, my first year, I was kind of just going out there, wildin’, doing my little thing,” Verse said. “Now I realize how important every step is. Everything has to be intentional. You do everything for a reason. Like, in the middle of the night, you’re not just going to wake up, walk to your kitchen for no reason and go to bed. You’re going to wake up, go grab a glass of water. You’ve got to be intentional with everything you do.”

Seahawks 

Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald shot down any notion that QB Sam Darnold won’t be their starting quarterback for 2025, despite some inconsistent performances in OTAs. 

“No, you guys are crazy,” Macdonald said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. “I respect that you’ve got to ask it, but it’s just a crazy question. It’s just not going to happen. Sam’s our starting quarterback. We love him. He’s doing a tremendous job.”

Macdonald isn’t holding any bad decisions Darnold made in their offseason program against him and thinks there is plenty of time to correct any mistakes. 

“God forbid you’re the worst player of all time because you made one bad throw or one bad decision,” Macdonald said. “That is not what we’re trying to build. We want these guys to go prepare the right way and then when they go out on the practice field, go freaking let it rip and then we’ll go fix it. … We’ve got time. It’s June 3 … They’re going to get plenty of reps. We’ll get those things fixed.”