{"id":293834,"date":"2026-07-25T13:30:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T17:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=293834"},"modified":"2026-07-24T23:25:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T03:25:56","slug":"nfl-rumors-panthers-steelers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/07\/25\/nfl-rumors-panthers-steelers\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Rumors: Panthers, Steelers Linked in Massive $68M Star Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

After losing Nic Scourton<\/a> to a torn ACL this week, the Carolina Panthers may have found their best replacement in the latest NFL rumors. According to a source<\/a>, Pittsburgh Steelers standout Alex Highsmith might emerge as the newest LB despite the team salvaging the unit by signing Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd. However, they’re in dire need of a starter since Patrick Jones isn’t the ideal permanent solution the Panthers should be leaning on. Highsmith, a former third-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, is coming off a solid 2025 campaign, hauling in a team-high 9.5 sacks to go with 50 total tackles (36 solo) and three passes defended.<\/p>\n

After Pittsburgh gave Nick Herbig a new contract, new rumors surrounding the Charlotte product swirled. It’s easy to see why the linebacker could be a fit for Carolina. Well, he’s from North Carolina, but he could be seeking a scenery change if the Steelers aren’t compensating his next deal. Pittsburgh arguably can’t afford to keep Watt, Herbig and Highsmith on massive deals, and probably would be asked to reduce their deal.<\/p>\n

While Watt has been teased as a trade candidate, too, this offseason, the 28-year-old could be looking on the outside as rookie standout Jack Sawyer had himself an impressive 2025 season.<\/p>\n

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Main Photo: Junfu Han-USA TODAY NETWORK<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NFL Rumors: Panthers, Steelers Linked in Massive $68M Star Trade<\/h2>\n

Decisions… Decisions…<\/h3>\n

The Steelers aren’t agreeing to a trade before Week 1 unless they receive a proposal they can’t turn down. Pittsburgh does need another receiver to help Aaron Rodgers despite trading for Michael Pittman Jr. this offseason<\/a>. The Steelers could give up Highsmith to strengthen their offensive pass-attack, acquiring WR Xavier Legette<\/a> in exchange. However, don’t expect anything to materialize until at least before the trade deadline.<\/p>\n

If the Panthers are 3-5 while the Steelers are 7-1, this trade might likely happen within that same week. For now, no one knows if the blockbuster proposal will come to fruition, but one thing everyone should keep on their radar as a trade candidate is Highsmith, so here are three teams that could target him.<\/p>\n

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3. Dallas Cowboys<\/h3>\n

Solid veteran linebackers have been hard to come by for the Dallas Cowboys after the team traded Micah Parsons last offseason. While they’ve salvaged their defensive line, acquiring Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark in the last year, they’ve also made huge changes in their pass-rush. The team drafted Jaishawn Barham<\/a> and Malachi Lawrence while trading for Dee Winters and Rashan Gary.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it feels like there’s room for growth here. They got a solid unit, but it might not be enough to have explosivity. Highsmith joining Dallas would put America’s team in the mountaintops and a potential trip to the NFC Championship with his versatility.<\/p>\n

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2. Chicago Bears<\/h3>\n

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears have also salvaged their LB room. Despite losing Tremaine Edmunds to New York, the team brought back Jack Sanborn while they signed Devin Bush to a deal<\/a>. Dayo Odeyingbo is good, but there’s room for strengthening between TJ Edwards and D’Marco Jackson. Highsmith could be the new leader like Edmunds once was in the Chicago locker room.<\/p>\n

He won’t be Brian Urlacher, but at least they can lean on a physical gift that could turn over the ball alongside Bush bringing the pain to the opposing offense.<\/p>\n

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1. Los Angeles Chargers<\/h3>\n

Speaking of bumps and bruises, will the Los Angeles Chargers defense be the same without Jesse Minter? It’s the biggest question heading into the 2026 campaign, and the fact that they haven’t added anyone else, other than re-signing Khalil Mack, is concerning. Tuli Tuipulotu is set not only for a record-breaking deal<\/a>, but also for a record-breaking season overall. They can’t afford to lean all responsibility on him once Mack retires, so it’d be beneficial to bring in Highsmith as the new Mack\/Joey Bosa era.<\/p>\n

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

One analyst believes in the latest NFL rumors the Carolina Panthers could target a possible replacement for Nic Scourton before Week 1. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":293835,"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":[36,30,23,19,18,6431,9],"tags":[6343,7739,7642,7403,7422,8025,358,32193,7429,246,5812,34873,33298,7661,7366,4775],"class_list":["post-293834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-panthers","category-bears","category-cowboys","category-chargers","category-nfl-teams","category-steelers","tag-alex-highsmith","tag-carolina-panthers-news","tag-chargers-featured","tag-chicago-bears-news","tag-dallas-cowboys-news","tag-dayo-odeyingbo","tag-khalil-mack","tag-lastest-nfl-news","tag-los-angeles-chargers-news","tag-nfl-news","tag-nfl-rumors","tag-nfl-trade-rumors","tag-nic-scourton","tag-panthers-featured","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-news","tag-rashan-gary"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293834","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=293834"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293848,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293834\/revisions\/293848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}