The Philadelphia Eagles made a noteworthy move when they traded for New York Jets cornerback Michael Carter II. In the deal, the Eagles gave up John Metchie III and a 2027 sixth-round pick, while recouping a 2027 seventh-rounder.
All season long, the number one issue on the team—aside from the much-talked-about woes in the passing game—has been at outside cornerback opposite Quinyon Mitchell. Adoree’ Jackson started off as the CB2, but an injury forced him out of the lineup in Week 4. He was then benched for Week 5. Since then, Jackson and his primary competition, former 4th-round draft pick Kelee Ringo, have gone back and forth for snaps at the second boundary corner position.
More importantly, neither player has been impressive. Jackson holds a 47.1 grade from Pro Football Focus, while Ringo’s grade is slightly more respectable at 58.2—both below the organization’s average standard of 60. Given this context, the move to acquire another cornerback like Carter makes sense.
However, there is a potential complication. Carter is predominantly a slot cornerback who operates on the inside, having played just 46 career snaps on the outside. This means the Eagles need to figure out who will play on the exterior of the secondary.
This situation inherently creates a positional clash. The team’s current slot cornerback, Cooper DeJean, has also mostly played on the inside, similar to Carter. In his 1.5 years since entering the NFL, DeJean has primarily been an inside corner.
Writing for The Philly Special, Anthony DiBona examines the impact of Carter’s signing and concludes that the team will likely decide to move DeJean outside for a solid portion of defensive snaps.
“Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio clearly values what Cooper DeJean brings in the slot,” DiBona wrote on Thursday, “yet he has also mentioned that the team has talked about moving DeJean to the outside.”
DiBona also highlights a noticeable shift in DeJean’s utilization from his rookie to sophomore season: “During DeJean’s rookie season, he was strictly a slot cornerback, playing 773 snaps in the slot and just eight snaps at outside cornerback. Yet in year two, Fangio has utilized DeJean as Philadelphia’s second outside cornerback in base defense.”
He continued, “Twenty-point-one percent of DeJean’s snaps in 2025 have been at outside cornerback, according to Pro Football Focus. If Fangio wants to move DeJean to outside cornerback full-time, it wouldn’t be something the second-year cornerback hasn’t already done.”
### Cooper DeJean May Retain Some Snaps In The Slot
Despite this potential move, DiBona suggests that Fangio may want to keep DeJean in the slot for parts of the game to maximize his unique skill set.
“My guess is that Fangio would ideally like to still utilize DeJean in the slot at times. Given DeJean’s size, athleticism, and physicality, he brings unique traits into the slot that have unlocked several layers of Philadelphia’s defense. While we could see DeJean play more on the outside moving forward, it would be a mistake to completely remove him from the slot.”
Following the trade for Carter, Philadelphia’s secondary now has more flexibility to deploy its personnel in nickel and dime defensive packages.
It will be interesting to see if the Eagles can effectively craft a shared cornerback usage scheme that incorporates DeJean, Mitchell, and Carter for the remainder of the season.
https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/cooper-dejean-move-outside-carter-trade/
