Panthers' Scourton Tears ACL, Out for 2026 Season
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- Scourton went down with a right knee injury during team drills on the opening day of Panthers camp, was carted off, and will miss the entire 2026 season after being diagnosed with a torn ACL
- Scourton tied Derrick Brown for the team lead in sacks as a 2025 rookie with 5 sacks despite making just 8 official starts across 17 games, adding 47 tackles, 7 TFLs, 9 QB hits, and a forced fumble
- Jaelan Phillips was signed to a 4-year, $120 million deal this offseason — the largest free-agent contract handed out by any team — to start opposite Scourton, who was slated as the other edge rusher
- Princely Umanmielen (2025 third-round pick out of Ole Miss, 1.5 sacks in 16 games) and Patrick Jones II (9 tackles, 1 sack in 4 games before a back injury) are the top internal candidates to step in
- Jadeveon Clowney is the top external option still available; CBS Sports has called him 'the perfect training camp signing,' and Pro Football Focus ranked him 16th in pass-rush grade while he posted a 19.1% pressure rate (4th among ~200 qualifiers) for Dallas in 2025
- Haason Reddick, Joey Bosa, Von Miller, and Kyle Van Noy are also unsigned free-agent edge rushers the Panthers could pursue, though Bosa is reported to have 'more likely than not' played his last NFL snap
- Dave Canales confirmed the right knee injury post-practice and said Scourton would undergo additional imaging, with GM Dan Morgan now facing pressure to add depth to a pass-rush room that was already not the deepest
Why it matters: The Panthers reshaped their defense this offseason by handing out the league's largest free-agent contract (Phillips, $120M) and adding Devin Lloyd on a 3-year, $42M deal, yet on Day 1 of camp they suddenly need an emergency edge rusher — and Scourton was no depth piece but a 5-sack starter. The roster's thin pass-rush room now forces GM Dan Morgan to weigh camp signings among aging veterans during a season Carolina was widely expected to compete in the NFC South.
