Cardinals trade for Broncos pass rusher Baron Browning

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Cardinals are getting the pass-rushing help they have needed.

A day before the NFL trade deadline, the Cardinals sent a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Denver Broncos for pass rusher Baron Browning.

The trade is pending a physical, the Cardinals announced.

“Plays with a high motor,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said. “He’s got some pop and some twitch to him, some violence. So, good addition by [general manager] Monti [Ossenfort].”

Browning has played in just five games at outside linebacker for the Broncos this season after a left foot injury in Week 2 put 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 did “a lot of work” on Browning coming out of college but doesn’t know him personally. From that evaluation, 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 on “Monday Night Football.”

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

“I’m sure the language will be a lot different for him,” Gannon said. “But, set an edge rush, little bit of coverage. It’s not crazy, crazy for us. But it’ll take some him some time.”

The Cardinals, who are 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 they had last year.

In the Broncos’ rotation among their outside linebackers, rookie Jonah Elliss has steadily carved out playing time — he’s had his three highest snap counts of the season over the past five games — and Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper lead the Broncos in sacks with 6 and 5.5 respectively, Browning was on pace for a career low in playing time.

In his five games this season, Browning had played on average 24.4 snaps per game, or roughly just over half of 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.