Jets GM Darren Mougey might quietly be winning the trade market

The New York Jets trading Michael Carter II for John Metchie III might seem like a moderate win on paper. With Carter II's descent from arguably the best nickel corner in the game to an overpaid liability, most insiders thought the Jets would receive for his services was a late-round pick.

Instead, they got a late-round pick swap and an intriguing dart throw in Metchie III, who was a second-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft. That alone is a win, but the deal is even more intriguing once you connect the dots to a trade that preceded it.

By swapping a sixth for a seventh a few weeks back to land Jarvis Brownlee, Darren Mougey was rolling the dice on finding a Carter II successor. While Carter II likely would have landed on the trade block without that deal, Brownlee has been playing like a top-three nickel corner since coming over, making dealing Carter II a forgone conclusion.

Taking the birds-eye view, that means the pick swap accompanying Metchie III more or less offsets the one that was sent to Tennessee for Brownlee, meaning the Jets basically turned Carter into both Brownlee and Metchie III, making for an incredible value.

Jets GM Darren Mougey is looking masterful with his in-season trades for Jarvis Brownlee and John Metchie III

Typically speaking, in-season trades by rebuilding teams take a bad team and make it worse in the short term, with the hope of making it better in the long run. However, when putting these two trades together, an argument can be made that the Jets are both better now and will be better tomorrow thanks to Darren Mougey's wheeling and dealing.

Brownlee won't hit free agency until after the 2027 season, making him a long-term asset on a rookie contract. Metchie III will have his rookie deal expire at the end of the season, but due to the time he missed due to his leukemia diagnosis, which upended his rookie season, he'll be a restricted free agent, giving the Jets the opportunity to retain him on the cheap for 2026.

Another intriguing point is the contrast between these two players in terms of pedigree and experience. Brownlee was a fifth-round pick in 2024 who got a chance to play merely because he was on a bad team, and quickly started to exceed expectations.

Metchie III was the 44th overall pick in the same draft class as Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, and several other stud receivers, meaning that even with a torn ACL the previous December, he likely would have been a first-round pick most years.

With that, he landed on a team that had a stacked wide receiver room by the time he was ready to take the field. In contrast to Brownlee, he was never really given an opportunity to show what he could do on a regular basis. He'll likely get that shot with the Jets.

In the aggregate, it shows that Mougey is not opposed to turning over any stone in hopes of upgrading the roster. Heralded or unheralded, he's identifying young talent and taking swings that don't cost much.

At the end of the day, he essentially swapped Michael Carter II for two lottery tickets, one of which already seems to be panning out, making the moves a massive win. The Jets are a better team today than they were yesterday, and the combination of Brownlee and Metchie III gives them a shot at being an even better club tomorrow.