The Cincinnati Bengals have shown that they aren't willing to give up on the 2025 season, choosing to trade for veteran quarterback Joe Flacco as they wait for Joe Burrow to return from injury. The defense, however, remains a major impediment to success.
The secondary has been the biggest problem this year despite all of the Bengals' NFL Draft capital they have invested in that area. The trade market may need to be explored once again, as a very winnable AFC North could pass them by if the defense does not improve.
The New York Jets seem ready to sell off anything that isn't nailed down at the trade deadline, and former top cornerback Michael Carter II could need a new team to take a chance on him after an inauspicious start to 2025. Zac Taylor may have no choice but to take a plunge like this.
This Bengals-Jets trade gets Michael Carter II to Cincinnati
Carter was once one of the best nickel cornerbacks in the NFL under Robert Saleh, even earning a contract that made him one of the highest-paid at his position in the league. The last two years, however, have been a complete nightmare for a player who clearly needs a fresh start somewhere else.
Carter has not only dealt with injuries in both the 2024 and 2025 season, but the switch to a press-man scheme orchestrated by Steve Wilks has shown that Carter can't play in a man-heavy scheme. While not as zone-heavy as Saleh, Al Golden's defense might be more in-line with Carter's skills.
While his status as a slot-only cornerback might bring him into conflict with Dax Hill, the former first-round pick need a fire lit uner him after a very uneven start to the season. Perhaps the Bengals can move Hill around what has become a thoroughly underwhelming secondary in order to accomodate Carter.
With the Jets having recently traded for Titans cornerback Jarvis Brownlee and seemingly indicated that they will kick him inside to nickel cornerback, the winless Jets might be a very motivated seller. Even if Flacco manages to get the passing game back on track and Burrow returns, this defense isn't in a position to turn down talent.
Carter is a risk at this point in his career, but if he is able to return to the form that made him one of the better defensive development stories of the Saleh era in New York, Cincinnati may just steal a contributor for relative pennies on the dollar.