Cardinals trade for Broncos pass rusher Baron Browning

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Cardinals are getting the help they needed to pressure the passers.

One day before the nfl trade deadline, the Cardinals sent a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Denver Broncos in exchange for pass rusher Baron Browning.

The trade is pending a physical, the Cardinals announced.

“He plays with great enthusiasm,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. “It’s got some pop and some crunch, some violence. So, nice addition by [general manager] Monti [Ossenfort]”.

Browning has played just five games at outside linebacker for the Broncos this season after a left foot injury in Week 2 left him on injured reserve for four weeks. He has seven tackles and no sacks this year, but is coming off seasons with 4.5 and 5.0 sacks, respectively. Browning was a third-round pick out of Ohio State in 2021.

Gannon said he “worked a lot” with Browning out of college, but he doesn’t know him personally. By that assessment, Gannon “really” liked Browning’s character and seriousness.

He fills a need for Arizona, whose pass rush has been decimated by injuries to BJ Ojulari and Dennis Gardeck this season. Ojulari, who was expected to be one of Arizona’s starting outside linebackers, tore his left ACL during training camp, and Gardeck tore his right ACL two weeks ago in a win over the Los Angeles Chargers in ” “Monday Night Football.”

Having transitioned to outside linebacker from inside, Browning brings more versatility to Arizona’s pass rush. Gannon described him as a “complete” player. With Arizona playing the New York Jets on Sunday and then entering their bye week, Browning will have additional time to learn the Cardinals’ scheme.

“I’m sure the language will be very different for him,” Gannon said. “But establish a lead, a little bit of cover. It’s not crazy, crazy for us. But it will take some time.”

The Cardinals, coming off a season-high six sack performance in a win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, have 21 sacks this season, putting them on pace for 39, six more than last year .

In the Broncos’ outside linebacker rotation, rookie Jonah Elliss has been steadily gaining playing time (he has had his three highest snap counts of the season in the last five games) and Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper lead the Broncos in sacks with 6 and 5.5 respectively, Browning was on pace to reach the lowest playing time of his career.

In his five games this season, Browning had played an average of 24.4 snaps per game, or roughly just over half the snaps he averaged in games over the first three years of his career.

Browning will be an unrestricted free agent in March.

ESPN’s Jeff Legwold contributed to this report.