South Carolina edge rusher Dylan Stewart was so good as a true freshman in 2024 that people starting talking about him as a potential No. 1 NFL Draft pick ... for 2027.
The former five-star recruit’s size and speed and 6.5 sacks also drew a lot of interest from other top college football programs, who openly wondered (and asked) if he’d be interested in transferring from the Gamecocks and playing for them.
In a story published June 18, On3 Sports’ Pete Nakos, citing sources, reported that multiple schools “made a run” at Stewart and tried to sway him to enter the portal during both the December 2024 and April 2025 transfer windows.
Had South Carolina’s star defensive end obliged, Nakos reported that he would’ve become “one of the highest-paid players in college football this season.”
But there was one issues for top schools that tampered with Stewart.
“I wasn’t looking,” he told On3 Sports.
Stewart, 19, also told Nakos he committed to South Carolina and Shane Beamer out of high school because he thought USC was the best place for him to develop into an NFL player. His loyalty and belief in the Gamecocks hasn’t changed, he said.
Plus, Stewart has unfinished business in Columbia.
“Before I leave, I want to make sure I make it to the playoff, but I actually want to get a ring,” he told On3 Sports.
Dylan Stewart turns down tampering schools
The news of Stewart turning down multi-million-dollar NIL offers to stay at South Carolina was the second major story this week involving a Gamecock staying loyal amid roster tampering (which is banned under NCAA rules but rarely punished).
In a June 16 story on South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers, The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman revealed that Sellers and his family turned down a two-year, $8 million offer from an unnamed school to enter the transfer portal and play for them.
Sellers and Stewart both played key roles for a Gamecocks team that won its last six regular-season games, worked its way into the 12-team College Football Playoff discussion and ultimately finished 9-4, the best record of the Beamer era.
Stewart, a unanimous five-star recruit who committed to South Carolina over Ohio State in high school, had 6.5 sacks, 10.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries as a true freshman in 2024. He was 1.5 sacks short of Jadeveon Clowney’s freshman record of eight and was No. 3 nationally in sacks by true freshmen.
South Carolina’s collective formally announced a new NIL deal with Stewart for the 2025 season on Dec. 10. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but The State previously reported Stewart would make over seven figures as a sophomore.
Despite that deal being in the works as early as November 2024 and Stewart signing his new deal with South Carolina a week after the regular season, On3 Sports reported that multiple schools tampered with Stewart leading up to the winter portal window — and the spring portal window, which ran April 16-25.
Stewart currently has an On3 Sports NIL “valuation” of $1.8 million.
Nakos, citing sources, reported that Stewart’s current NIL deal has “set the market” for college football pass rushers and he could’ve gotten even more money had he transferred and taken one of the deals being back-channeled by other schools.
But Stewart (6-foot-5, 245 pounds) told On3 Sports he didn’t consider those offers and he’s locked in on his sophomore season with the Gamecocks.
“I’m trying to make a play every play,” he told the website.