One of the Jets’ long-rumored trade candidates, Michael Carter II is indeed on the move. The team is sending the veteran slot cornerback to the Eagles, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports.
Carter and a 2027 seventh-round pick are going to the Eagles in exchange for a 2027 sixth and wide receiver John Metchie, per Russini. Philadelphia had acquired Metchie in a summer trade with Houston.
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This move will reunite Carter with the GM who extended him last summer. Since-fired Jets front office boss Joe Douglas is back with the Eagles, having been hired this offseason. Douglas hammered out a three-year, $30.75MM extension for Carter just before last season. (At the time, those terms made Carter the NFL’s highest-paid pure slot.)
The Jets came into Wednesday with three eight-figure-per-year CB contracts. That number drops to two (Sauce Gardner, Brandon Stephens) after this deal, and it gives Carter a second chance after he had fallen out of favor under Aaron Glenn.
Seeking a change of scenery after his Jets standing changed, Carter agreed to rework his contract to facilitate a trade to Philly. He agreed to remove a $5MM injury guarantee for 2026, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport adds. Carter is now due a largely nonguaranteed $9.7MM in 2026, as $1.38MM of that total is fully guaranteed. The contract runs through 2027.
This will give the Eagles more flexibility, as they are acquiring a slot corner despite rostering Cooper DeJean. Issues finding a boundary complement to Quinyon Mitchell, however, have DeJean playing outside far more often this season. That looks set to continue, with the Eagles likely eyeing a Mitchell-DeJean-Carter trio after their Week 9 bye.
Vic Fangio said recently (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter) the team has discussed moving DeJean outside. Neither Adoree’ Jackson nor Kelee Ringo has proven a reliable option opposite Mitchell, and the 2024 rookie CB duo may be how the defending Super Bowl champs resolve this matter for the time being. In Carter, the Eagles will be acquiring a proven slot presence — at least, that was the case during most of Douglas’ GM tenure. The Jets, signing Stephens and extending Gardner at a record rate, had been dangling Carter in deals before the November 4 deadline.
Douglas drafted two Michael Carters in 2021. While the Jets moved on from the running back (now a Cardinal) earlier, they extended the corner — a fifth-round pick — in a deal that pointed D.J. Reed out of New York. But injuries limited Carter in 2024; the 2025 Jets regime change affected his long-term standing with the franchise. The Jets’ September Jarvis Brownlee trade impacted this equation as well.
A herniated disk in Carter’s back accompanied an ankle injury last year, and his snap share declined to a career-low 32% during Jeff Ulbrich‘s interim HC stretch. Carter had logged between 64 and 74% of New York’s defensive snaps from 2021-23, solidifying himself as an extension candidate. Missing three games this season, he played 45% of the Jets’ defensive snaps. That stint under Glenn and Steve Wilks did not go well; Pro Football Focus ranks Carter as the NFL’s third-worst CB regular this season. Per Pro-Football-Reference, he has been charged with a whopping 19.5 yards per completion and a 109.7 passer rating as the closest defender.
PFF graded Carter as a top-20 option in 2022 and ’23, as he excelled alongside Gardner in Robert Saleh‘s scheme. The Eagles will bet on this buy-low move boosting their defense and restoring the 26-year-old corner closer to that early-2020s form. PFF has Jackson slotted barely above Carter this season, ranking him among the 10 worst CB regulars, while placing Ringo outside the top 60 at the position. While DeJean may project as a slot player long term, the Eagles will try to get by with the standout cover man outside this year.
DeJean logged only seven boundary CB snaps in 2024; the Iowa alum is already at 103 this season. Fangio had a complex plan for DeJean this offseason, lining him up at safety and outside corner. For now, DeJean will be likely to give it a go at a position he was not drafted to play. It will be interesting to see what the Eagles’ DeJean plan is coming out of this season, as the Super Bowl hero enjoyed a strong rookie year as a slot stopper.
Despite being extended last year, Carter is on a manageable $1.7MM base salary this season. The Eagles will be responsible for barely half that, though the Jets could only secure a 2027 sixth and a now-twice-trade receiver in this deal. Metchie will join a team with a much worse receiving situation.
The Jets have played without Garrett Wilson due to injury recently and placed Josh Reynolds on IR before Week 8. Being traded from Houston to Philly before the season, Metchie has caught just four passes for 18 yards. The former second-round pick, who missed his rookie season due to a leukemia battle, should have a chance to play more with the Jets.
Metchie caught 24 passes for 254 yards as a Texans backup in 2024 and is in a contract year. The Jets have Allen Lazard stationed as a trade candidate, as the 1-7 team will need to consider other moves to recoup draft capital before the deadline. Excluding pick-for-pick deals, this is the Eagles’ 10th trade in 2025. More moves could be coming for the NFC power, as six days remain until this year’s trade endpoint.
