Background: The aim of this study was to compare outcomes of patients with minimal tracheal invasion undergoing shave resection to other forms of ETE in lieu of the new American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging. Methods: All patients diagnosed with well differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) and ETE were analyzed. Structural recurrence was measured and compared between various forms of ETE. Results: A total of 132 patients were included in the study. Twenty-seven patients (20.4%) had strap muscle invasion, twenty-two patients (16.7%) had minimal tracheal invasion and 83 patients (62.9%) had other forms of ETE. Kaplan-Meier models for structural recurrence revealed that when combining T3b patients with T4a shave patients and comparing them to other T4a patients, the former performed better than the latter (p=0.028 for all ages; p= 0.021; for patients >55 years). Conclusions: Patients with minimal tracheal may be more correctly staged as T3b rather than T4a.