If Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan makes just one aggressive move before the 2025 NFL trade deadline, it should be for New York Jets pass rusher Jermaine Johnson II.
And the Jets might be open for business.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported that, “The Jets also have edge rushers of interest. The team has no plans to move Will McDonald IV, but is listening on Jermaine Johnson II. Johnson has a year left on his deal after this one, and it sounds like New York would want a second-round pick for him.”
If the Panthers are serious about accelerating their rebuild around rookie phenom Nic Scourton, this is the move that could transform their defense overnight.
Jermaine Johnson II checks every box for the Carolina Panthers
Johnson’s story is one of unfinished potential. After missing almost all of 2024 with a torn Achilles, he’s worked his way back into form, and the results have been quietly impressive. Through five games this season, he’s put up 19 tackles, 13 pressures, 11 stops, one sack, one pass breakup, and a run stuff.
And when he was last healthy for a full season in 2023, he was a difference-maker. Johnson racked up 55 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 53 pressures, and even a pick-six, establishing himself as one of the AFC’s most well-rounded young defenders.
That’s the kind of production Carolina hasn’t seen from the edge since Brian Burns’ trade to the New York Giants.
The Panthers’ front seven is starting to take shape under Ejiro Evero. Scourton has flashed serious potential, but he’s doing it without a proven veteran presence on the opposite side. Johnson could be that missing piece.
He can line up both standing or with his hand in the dirt, play the run with discipline, and still bend around the edge with explosiveness. His skill set would free Scourton to rush more aggressively, while giving Carolina a reliable veteran to anchor the unit. Patrick Jones II is injured, and D.J. Wonnum is unlikely to be brought back in 2026.
The Jets are 1-7 and open to selling. Carolina, on the other hand, is 5-4 and sitting in that tricky middle ground: competitive, but not complete. Trading a second-round pick might sound risky, but the Panthers have the draft capital to make it work.
For the Panthers, this is the kind of targeted, forward-thinking move that bridges the gap between rebuilding and contending. If Morgan wants to prove Carolina’s rebuild is ahead of schedule, Johnson is the move that says it out loud.