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As the clock ticks toward the 2025 NFL trade deadline on Nov. 4, teams across the league are starting to pick up the phone and wheel and deal. Less than 24 hours after the Pittsburgh Steelers made a trade to help their secondary, their Pennsylvania neighbor did the same. The Philadelphia Eagles acquired cornerback Michael Carter II from the New York Jets in a deal that also saw wideout John Metchie III head to the Big Apple. 

At 1-7 on the season, the Jets are pegged as a seller at the deadline, but it is interesting to see them move off a player like Carter. His departure comes just over a year after the franchise signed him to a three-year, $30.75 million contract extension that made the 2021 first-rounder out of Duke the NFL's highest-paid slot corner at the time of signing. So, why did New York make this trade? What kind of player are the Eagles getting, and what will this mean for their secondary? We answer those questions and hand out our grades for the trade below. 

The trade

  • Eagles get: CB Michael Carter II, 2027 seventh-round pick
  • Jets get: WR John Metchie III, 2027 sixth-round pick

Philadelphia Eagles: A

The Eagles needed to improve the secondary, and this trade will trigger a chain reaction in hopes of doing just that. Specifically, Philadelphia struggled at the outside corner position opposite Quinyon Mitchell, with the likes of Adoree' Jackson and Kelee Ringo not suitably filling the role. Carter himself doesn't help on the outside as he's made his bones in the slot. What his arrival does, however, is free up Cooper DeJean to kick outside from the slot. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said this week that moving DeJean to a full-time role on the outside was under consideration, and now that possibility has been made easier with Carter coming in to fill his shoes in the slot. And it only cost them moving down a round on Day 3 of the 2027 NFL Draft and Metchie (played 7% of the offensive snaps so far this season) to do so. 

New York Jets: C

It does feel like a lukewarm return for someone the organization once made the highest-paid player at his position, even if it was under a previous regime. Carter was under team control through the 2027 season, but New York may have wanted to move off of him to avoid a possible contract scuffle this offseason. Carter has just $1.3 million left in guaranteed salary for the 2026 season, and none in 2027. On top of avoiding that, the Jets did acquire defensive back Jarvis Brownlee Jr. from the Titans earlier this season, which made Carter expendable. That said, moving up from the seventh to the sixth round two years from now isn't exactly going to blow anyone's socks off. When it comes to Metchie, he should be looked at as simply a depth piece with the veteran slated to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.