Jets agree to trade cornerback Michael Carter II to Eagles for wide receiver John Metchie III

The New York Jets agreed to trade cornerback Michael Carter II to the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday for wide receiver John Metchie III.

Both teams announced the trade, pending physicals, in which the Jets will also receive a sixth-round pick in the 2027 NFL draft and will send a seventh-round selection in that draft to the Eagles.

Carter thanked the Jets in a farewell post on X shortly after news of the deal broke.

“New York, I’m forever grateful!” Carter wrote. “You changed my life. So much love to all my dawgs in the building. Greatness is on the way!”

Carter, a fifth-round pick in 2021 out of Duke, became the NFL’s highest-paid nickel cornerback last year when he signed a three-year, $30.75 million extension after becoming one of the best players at his position. But playing for a new regime with head coach Aaron Glenn and defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, Carter became expendable after the Jets acquired Jarvis Brownlee Jr. from Tennessee last month.

Carter, who also dealt with injuries the past few seasons, saw his role decrease significantly in New York’s first win of the season against Cincinnati last Sunday. After missing three games with a concussion, he played only six snaps on defense and was replaced by Brownlee for most of the game as the slot cornerback.

Carter now joins an Eagles defense that was looking to add a complementary piece to starting outside cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Joe Douglas, the Eagles’ senior personnel director, was the Jets’ general manager when New York drafted Carter.

Carter, who missed four games last season with a back injury, has 223 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, two interceptions, 26 passes defensed, a forced fumble, three fumble recoveries and a sack in four-plus seasons.

The Jets will be the third team this season for Metchie, who was traded from Houston to Philadelphia in August. He has four catches for 18 yards this season, and now joins a receiving group that’s led by Garrett Wilson, who has missed the past two games with a knee injury.

Metchie, who is in the final year of his contract, was a second-round pick by the Texans out of Alabama in 2022. He missed his entire rookie season after announcing he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Metchie returned the next season and had 16 catches. Last season, he had 24 receptions, including the first touchdown of his NFL career. In August, Houston traded him and a 2026 sixth-round pick to Philadelphia for tight end Harrison Bryant and a 2026 fifth-rounder.

The 25-year-old Metchie has 44 catches for 430 yards and a TD in the NFL.

The trade signals what could be a busy stretch for the Jets, who are 1-7 in their bye-week break and could be sellers — with running back Breece Hall, wide receiver Allen Lazard and linebacker Quincy Williams among those whose names have been mentioned as players teams could pursue before the deadline next Tuesday.

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