With Michael Carter II becoming expendable due to the emergence of Jarvis Brownlee, the New York Jets scanned the trade market to find value in exchange for their veteran slot corner.
First-year Jets general manager Darren Mougey found a trade partner willing to offer a relatively young and intriguing player for Carter’s services. The Philadelphia Eagles and former Jets GM Joe Douglas sent over 25-year-old wide receiver John Metchie, along with a 2027 pick swap (Jets’ seventh-rounder for Eagles’ sixth-rounder).
Metchie will be a restricted free agent after the 2025 season. This means the Jets essentially turned Carter into a nine-game tryout for Metchie. It isn’t the most scintillating trade package in NFL history, given that Metchie has one NFL touchdown in four seasons, but it beats cutting Carter for nothing after the season.
Metchie was a 2022 second-round pick of the Houston Texans. He sat out his rookie season after being diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Following his return in the 2023 season, Metchie would play 29 games for Houston over two seasons, securing 40 of 67 targets for 412 yards, one touchdown, and 18 first downs.
In August 2025, Houston sent Metchie and a 2026 sixth-round pick to Philadelphia for tight end Harrison Bryant and a 2026 fifth-round pick. Metchie played in seven of the Eagles’ first eight games, securing all four of his targets for 18 yards. He played a small role on special teams (30 snaps).
New York may have been able to find a trade for Carter that netted slightly better draft compensation if no players were involved. Instead, Mougey opted for a deal centered around a nine-game tryout for a former second-round pick who is still 25 years old. It shows that the Jets must feel optimistic about Metchie’s potential, especially given their pressing need at wide receiver.
So, what might the Jets have seen in him?
The primary appeal of John Metchie: Untapped deep upside
Standing 5-foot-11 and 187 pounds, Metchie is a versatile receiver who has run 51% of his career routes from the slot and 49% from out wide.
On the surface, Metchie has been unproductive in the NFL. He has one touchdown in 39 games and is averaging 11.9 receiving yards per game.
The fact that New York valued Metchie despite those numbers suggests they see untapped potential beneath the surface.
As it turns out, there are some metrics that back up the idea of Metchie having unrealized upside.
In the 2024 season, Metchie registered one of the best deep separation grades among NFL wide receivers. His deep separation was graded at a similar level to players like Michael Pittman Jr. and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
The problem for Metchie is that his separation did not amount to much. He was well below average when it came to his performance at the catchpoint on deep routes.
The following chart, courtesy of Pro Football Focus analyst Judah Fortgang, highlights Metchie’s top-notch separation (X-axis) but inability to capitalize on it (Y-axis).
This blend makes Metchie a fascinating dice roll for the Jets’ situation.
Metchie has excelled at creating opportunities for big plays. If he can just improve at capitalizing on those opportunities, Metchie could become a useful playmaker. That’s far easier said than done, but as a 1-7 team with few answers on offense, it’s a gamble worth taking in exchange for a player who would have been cut anyway.
Interestingly enough, the Jets have another wideout in a similar boat: Arian Smith. The fourth-round rookie rates highly on these separation charts, but has yet to convert it into any meaningful production.
Between Smith and Metchie, the Jets have themselves a couple of high-ceiling downfield threats. Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand would be wise to dial up more deep shots per game so these two players receive enough chances to display the extent of their potential.
While receivers can be evaluated on their route running whether they are targeted or not, New York needs to see Smith and Metchie get targets to make fair evaluations on their overall games, as both players have concerns at the catch point.
The concerns with John Metchie
Metchie doesn’t have many gaping holes in his game. The problem is that he is below average in most areas.
With four career drops to 44 receptions (per PFF), Metchie has a career drop rate of 8.3%. This is far from the league’s worst marks, but it’s a bit worse than the 2024 league average for wide receivers (6.4%).
In the contested-catch department, Metchie is slightly below the 50-50 mark, securing 7-of-15 opportunities (46.7%).
Metchie is not very elusive; he has forced four missed tackles on 44 career receptions. That’s an average of 0.091 per reception, which is just 75% of the 2024 positional average (0.121).
In addition, during the 2024 season, Metchie recorded -17 YAC over expected, per NFL Pro, the ninth-worst mark among wide receivers.
Fumbles are also a slight concern for Metchie, who has two of them on just 55 career offensive touches.
John Metchie’s ceiling?
With so many weaknesses to fix as a player already in his fourth NFL season, Metchie likely does not have a high ceiling in the league. The Jets probably aren’t stealing a long-term starter from Howie Roseman in this deal.
However, with his ability to separate downfield, Metchie could still turn into a solid role player. His hands aren’t far off from league-average, so with marginal improvement in that area and a steady diet of chances, he could establish himself as a useful complementary receiver.
Across an extended stretch late in the 2024 season, we can see a picture of the ceiling that New York might envision for Metchie.
Through Week 8, Metchie had only five targets, catching four for 36 yards. He missed three games, and in the five games he played, he was rarely on the field (23% of the offensive snaps).
Then, Stefon Diggs suffered a season-ending injury, and from Week 9 through the Texans’ playoff run, Metchie became a steady WR3 behind Nico Collins and Tank Dell. He was the fifth option overall, with tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Joe Mixon also above him in the target hierarchy.
Across 10 games from Week 9 through the divisional round, Metchie caught 26 of 42 targets for 281 yards, one touchdown, and 13 first downs. Those averages would put him on pace for 477 yards and 22 first downs over 17 games.
Every NFL offense will take that from a No. 5 weapon.
Most notably, Metchie improved his hands after a rough 2023 season. Including the playoffs, Metchie finished the 2024 campaign with one drop (3.2% drop rate) while catching 7-of-12 contested targets (58.3%).
On the downside, Metchie’s two fumbles both came in 2024, including a big turnover in the wild card round that Houston was able to overcome.
Overall, though, Metchie’s body of work after Diggs’ injury was that of a solid role player. The Jets only have one wide receiver signed for the long haul who is unquestionably at or above that level (Garrett Wilson), so if Metchie can reach that ceiling in New York, he would be a valuable piece of the depth chart.
Metchie will be a restricted free agent in 2026, which means the Jets can retain him for one year on a right of first refusal tender. The price of this tender varies by year, but it will be low; in 2025, it was $3.26 million.
If this trade ultimately nets the 2026 New York Jets a 26-year-old WR3 for just $3.26 million, we can chalk it up as a win for Mougey.
Metchie must use the next nine games to stake his claim to a role on the Jets’ 2026 depth chart, and the Jets’ coaches must ensure he gets enough chances to be properly evaluated.
