Packers Strong Trade Suitors for 45-Sack Pass-Rusher Entering Prime

“Green Bay can replenish its depleted outside linebacker group with a move for Highsmith, who may want a new contract,” Moton wrote. “The Steelers edge-rusher doesn’t have any guaranteed money in the final two years of his deal. With 23.4 million in cap space, the Packers can acquire Highsmith, rework his contract and fill a glaring need on the edge.”

Highsmith produced 9.5 sacks in 2025 and has recored 64 tackles for loss along with 45 sacks over his six years in the league.

Packers Will Be Without Micah Parsons to Start Year, Also Traded Rashan Gary to Cowboys During Offseason

GettyPass-rusher Rashan Gary of the Dallas Cowboys.

Bill Barnwell of ESPN explained during a podcast on June 5 why Highsmith makes sense as a trade candidate either ahead of the regular season or before the early November deadline.

“[Highsmith is] a player who is sort of in the prime, maybe sort of coming to the point where he will be exiting his prime in the next year or two,” Barnwell said. “He does not have much time left in his contract, and the money he has left is not guaranteed, so there is a lot of flexibility with Alex Highsmith that is not necessarily there with TJ Watt.”

Not only is Green Bay likely to play absent Parsons through at least the first month of the year, the team also dealt Rashan Gary to the Dallas Cowboys this offseason in exchange for a fourth-round pick.

That leaves former first-round selection Lukas Van Ness as the team’s top edge-rusher heading into training camp, which begins at the end of July.

Packers Will Rely Heavily on Largely Unproven Pass-Rusher Lukas Van Ness

GettyPass-rusher Lukas Van Ness of the Green Bay Packers.

Van Ness, who has battled injuries and inconsistent play over his first three years in the NFL, has amassed just 8.5 sacks across 43 games played (two starts).

That said, Green Bay still opted to pick up the fifth year on the outside linebacker’s rookie deal, which will keep him under contract for at least the next two seasons. Van Ness has also impressed during OTAs and mandatory minicamp, which is a good sign of things to come.

“He had an excellent series of practices, capped by a havoc-creating minicamp last week,” Bill Huber of ON SI wrote June 16. “It was a huge development considering the young and unproven depth chart that is going to have to rise to the occasion without Parsons to start the season.”

But as well as Van Ness has comported himself this spring and summer, the Packers must still seriously consider adding pass-rushing talent in free agency or via a trade. The veteran options on the open market will be cheaper, but also shorter-term.

Thus, if Green Bay is looking for a player in his prime to join the defense for a few years and promote continuity, Highsmith is perhaps the better direction to go.