Just before last season, the Jets raised the slot cornerback market’s ceiling by extending Michael Carter. The team proceeded to fire Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas in the weeks that followed. That looks to be a telling sign regarding the team’s cornerback plans.

Although Carter’s three-year, $30.75MM contract runs through 2027, he has not played particularly well since signing it. And the former fifth-round find may be a trade candidate. The Jets having drafted Azareye’h Thomas in the third round this year and then traded for Jarvis Brownlee last month, pointing ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini to mention Carter as a trade chip under the Darren Mougey-Aaron Glenn regime.

It appears “the writing is on the wall” for Carter in New York, per Cimini. Drafting two Michael Carters in 2021, the Jets bailed on the former fourth-round running back (now a Cardinal) a while ago. Moving the fifth-year corner would make for a more notable transaction due to the latter’s contract, but the Duke product has struggled on this $10.25MM-per-year deal.

The Jets had viewed Carter as their entrenched slot corner upon signing him to the extension, a deal that was rumored during the 2024 offseason. Carter’s deal also helped D.J. Reed see the writing on the wall, with the team’s Sauce Gardner boundary sidekick hitting free agency and signing with the Lions. The Jets replaced Reed with Brandon Stephens, making them the only team — thanks to Gardner’s $30.1MM-per-year deal this summer — with three eight-figure AAVs at corner. But Carter’s snap share has declined since an injury-plagued 2024.

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 two games already this season, he has played 53% of Gang Green’s defensive snaps but has struggled under Glenn and DC Steve Wilks.

Pro Football Focus ranks Carter outside the top 100 among CB regulars thus far, and he has allowed a whopping 19.5 yards per target and 13 yards per completion. Although we are dealing with a small sample size, the 26-year-old slot staple is trending in the wrong direction for a rebuilding team. Brownlee has also logged 35 slot snaps early in his Jets tenure.

Breece Hall represents a prime trade chip due to contract-year status, and Carter’s recent play has undoubtedly reduced his value. While Saleh (49ers) and Ulbrich (Falcons) are running defenses elsewhere, the Jets may not land much for Carter despite his deal presenting an acquiring team with two more full seasons of control. If Gang Green moves on before the deadline, it would see roughly $7MM in dead money come from the swap.

With a new regime running the show, some Saleh/Douglas-era pieces will not fit. At 0-6, the Jets have naturally been linked to selling. The list may expand beyond Carter and Hall, as draft capital will be prioritized early in a lost season.

Michael Carter II managed to play 13 games last season, but he was nowhere near full strength for much of that time. The fifth-year Jets corner is healthy entering training camp, however.

Carter dealt with an ankle injury which lingered through the opening part of the campaign. He eventually recovered but then faced issues stemming from a herniated disc in his back. The 26-year-old saw his defensive snap share drop to 32% – by far the lowest mark of his career – as a result.

“It was super tough, more mentally than physically,” Carter said during minicamp (via Brian Costello of the New York Post). “Everything physically was going on, but mentally I was just trying to make sure I was kind of staying in it, staying enthused, not being down and trying to prepare the best I could so I could help my teammates and at least try to make an effort to make it through a game and be out there for those guys because I want it so bad.

“I definitely wanted to make sure I did everything I could to do what I could for them. It was one of those things that it didn’t work out, but I’m in a lot better place now.”

Being back to full health will be key for Carter given the investment made in him by the Jets’ previous regime. The former fifth-rounder landed a three-year, $30.75MM extension last offseason which made him the league’s highest-paid slot corner at the time. Carter no longer holds that title, but after handling snap shares between 64% and 74% during his first three years with the team he can once again be expected to serve as a crucial member of New York’s secondary in 2025.

The new tandem of general manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn will have Sauce Gardner in place for at least the next two years (although he is understandably among the team’s current extension priorities). New York expectedly lost D.J. Reed in free agency and replaced him with Brandon Stephens to operate as a starter on the perimeter. Carter will be tasked with handling slot duties once again in 2025, and his ability to remain healthy will be key in determining the success of the Jets’ defense.