Michael Carter has spent Eagles training camp making himself hard to ignore.
In a secondary that is still sorting out roles, the veteran defensive back has become one of the more interesting names on the field, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio made it clear Wednesday that Carter’s flexibility is standing out.
Asked about the Duke product during his press availability, Fangio praised Carter’s ability to handle multiple jobs at once: “Michael's had a good camp so far. He might be the only guy -- I'd have to think -- he's learning three positions. He's playing safety, nickel, and when we do go to our six-DB stuff, he's the sixth DB in there.”
That kind of workload says plenty about where Carter fits in the 2026 defense. Since coming over from the New York Jets near the 2025 trade deadline and then staying on a reworked contract this offseason, the 27-year-old has been working at safety this summer while also taking nickel and dime reps.
He’s also gotten some first-team looks at safety in nickel packages, lining up next to second-year player Drew Mukuba.
The competition is real, though. Carter is trying to catch Marcus Epps for a starting spot in sub packages, with All-Pro Cooper DeJean handling the slot. In base looks, DeJean will be at safety this season.
Carter’s background helps explain why the Eagles are comfortable moving him around. He played safety in college and spent years in the NFL as a slot corner, which makes him a natural fit for Fangio’s layered coverage system, where slot and safety responsibilities can blur together.
“It can be a lot,” Carter admitted when discussing toggling between safety and slot. “But you just kinda got to compartmentalize everything.”
He said the challenge is less about the volume of work than the details that change from spot to spot.
“Being able to separate the two and me going to that nickel world, just knowing how the alignment changes and all that,” Carter continued. “I think the alignment is more of it than anything, and then going back there [to safety] and going back into that mode where you have to communicate a little bit more.”
To get ready for the move toward more safety work, Carter leaned heavily on defensive pass game coordinator Joe Kasper.
"I think just a lot of one-on-one with Joe,” Carter said when asked how he prepared. “Really iron out the details and really just communicating. Marcus and Dre have been a huge help with that, just learning the communication.
“It's a lot of humility in our room, and guys ask questions, and the room is receptive to questions so everybody is willing to reach back and help out and bring others along, so I really appreciate those guys for bringing me up to speed with communication and things like that."
Fangio’s assessment matched what Carter has shown so far.
“I think he's had a very good camp and has done nothing but helped himself and not eliminating himself from anything,” Fangio said. “[At] safety, he's progressing nicely.”
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