{"id":293571,"date":"2026-07-23T14:25:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=293571"},"modified":"2026-07-23T14:25:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:25:35","slug":"nic-scourton-injury-panthers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/07\/23\/nic-scourton-injury-panthers\/","title":{"rendered":"Nic Scourton Injury: 3 Best Replacement Fits for Panthers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Carolina Panthers will need to deal with a roster adjustment before Week 1 in light of the Nic Scourton injury, and there are several options available. Scourton, a former second-round pick, was carted off with a knee injury<\/a> on the first day of the NFL Training Camp. Last season, the young linebacker recorded 47 tackles, one pass deflection, a forced fumble, and a team-leading five sacks while only being a starter for eight games. As of this posting, the former Texas A&M product will receive an MRI on his knee to check on the severity of the injury, but it doesn’t look too good.<\/p>\n

This offseason has been extremely productive for the Panthers. They’ve brought in Jaelan Phillips<\/a> and Devin Lloyd via free agency to fortify this pass-rushing group, but would be forced to find another potential talent in the market. While Head Coach Dave Canales said<\/a> “we’ve got depth,” it won’t mean they’ll shoot down the idea of getting more. Carolina hasn’t been afraid of building a ferocious defense, but who will step up and help this group?<\/p>\n

\"Nic
Main Photo: Brett Davis-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nic Scourton Injury: 3 Best Replacement Fits for Panthers<\/h2>\n

Free Agency or Trade?<\/h3>\n

It won’t matter if it’s through a trade or free agency; the Panthers need someone to step in. Patrick Jones will likely get the starting reps for the rest of this year’s training camp, but is he enough for what Carolina is looking for? QB Bryce Young<\/a> is entering a crucial season this year, so the team must make life easier for him, and that’s by turning the ball over. Last offseason, the team re-signed Jaycee Horn and Michael Jackson while agreeing to a long-term deal with Tre’Von Moehrig.<\/p>\n

As much as they’ve invested in their secondary last year, they’re probably doing the same with their linebacker group this season. Here are the best replacements for Scourton as the Panthers remain hopeful he isn’t out for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

3. Free Agency: Bobby Wagner<\/h3>\n

Despite coming off a productive 2025 campaign with the Washington Commanders, the long-term veteran remains unsigned<\/a>. While he should be able to find a home before Week 1, time is ticking for the linebacker to win one last Super Bowl. This isn’t to say that Carolina will win a championship, but his leadership could be crucial for the rest of the younger talent, including Lloyd and Phillips.<\/p>\n

He isn’t going to be the same All-Pro, but it’d help streamline the LB corps since the Scourton injury.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

2. Free Agency: Von Miller<\/h3>\n

Similar to Wagner, Von Miller is nearing the end of his NFL career, but don’t be surprised if this is his last season. However, after regretting turning down the Seattle Seahawks last offseason, Miller could revitalize this Panthers defense and bring them at least to the Championship Game. Nobody should expect him to be the same old Denver Bronco MVP, but he’s still healthy, reliable and versatile.<\/p>\n

Despite expressing interest in Dallas<\/a> and a return to the Broncos, he hasn’t garnered much interest. Miller should be signed a week before the regular season, so expect the Panthers to be in the running for the veteran.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

1. Trade for: Kayvon Thibodeaux<\/h3>\n

This trade would be gold for the Panthers and allow Scourton to recover for the entire 2026 campaign. Kayvon Thibodeaux has been in endless trade speculation since last year, and after the Giants drafted Arvell Reese<\/a>\u00a0while they signed Tremaine Edmunds<\/a>, it remains unclear what his future holds. If the Giants want to net the best draft capital possible, they should utilize this opportunity if the Panthers are interested.<\/p>\n

Thibodeaux is a starter in this league and would be a gem to help Phillips and Lloyd as the new trio in Carolina.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The latest Nic Scourton injury news may convince the Carolina Panthers to make a move for a possible replacement for the 2026 season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":293573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<\/smartframe-embed>","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,30,6431],"tags":[33883,1051,7739,7576,9040,32193,246,5812,33298,7661,607],"class_list":["post-293571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-panthers","category-nfl-teams","tag-2026-nfl-free-agency","tag-bobby-wagner","tag-carolina-panthers-news","tag-jaelan-phillips","tag-kayvon-thibodeaux","tag-lastest-nfl-news","tag-nfl-news","tag-nfl-rumors","tag-nic-scourton","tag-panthers-featured","tag-von-miller"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293571"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293577,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293571\/revisions\/293577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}