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Philadelphia Eagles cornerback, Cooper DeJean

The Philadelphia Eagles made a noteworthy move when they traded for New York Jets cornerback, Michael Carter II, giving up John Metchie III and a 2027 sixth rounder, and recouping a 2027 seventh rounder.

All season long, the number one issue on the team – with the exception of perhaps the much-talked-about woes in the passing game – has been at outside cornerback opposite Quinyon Mitchell.

Adoree’ Jackson started off as the CB2, before injury forced him out of the lineup in week 4, before getting benched for week 5. Since then him and his competition – which has primarily been former 4th round draft pick, Kelee Ringo – have gone back and forth for snaps on defense at the second boundary corner position.

But more importantly, neither have been impressive. Jackson has a 47.1 grade from Pro Football Focus, whilst Ringo’s is at a slightly more respectable 58.2 – both of which are below the standard average of 60 for the organization.

So the move for another CB like Carter makes sense. The only problem is that Carter is predominantly a slot cornerback who operates on the inside – having just played 46 career snaps on the exterior of the defense.

The Eagles Need To Figure Out Who Will Play On The Exterior Of The Secondary

This inherently adds a positional clash, considering that the team’s current slot cornerback, Cooper DeJean, has also mostly played on the inside, like Carter; at least in his 1.5 years since entering the NFL.

Writing on The Philly Special, Anthony DiBona examines the impact from Carter’s signing, and concludes that the team will likely decide to move DeJean outside – at least for a solid proportion of the snaps on defense.

“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 notes that there has already been a slight change in DeJean’s utilization on defense from his rookie to his sophomore year.

“During DeJean’s rookie season, he was strictly a slot cornerback, as he played 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.” DiBona continued.

“20.1% of DeJean’s snaps in 2025 have been at outside cornerback, according to Pro Football Focus. If Fangio does want to move DeJean to outside cornerback full-time, it wouldn’t be something that the second-year cornerback hasn’t already done.”

Cooper DeJean May Retain Some Snaps In The Slot

However, DiBona also suggests that even with a move outside to accommodate the presence of Carter, Fangio may also want to keep the All-Rookie on the interior for parts of the game.

“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 has more options to utilize in their nickel and dime defensive looks.”

It will be interesting to see if the team manages to effectively find a communal corner usage that encompasses all three of DeJean, Mitchell and Carter for the rest of the season.