{"id":866077,"date":"2026-04-14T08:24:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T08:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/866077\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T08:24:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T08:24:25","slug":"disgruntled-30m-cb-linked-to-cowboys-after-new-dc-rips-up-matt-eberflus-playbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/866077\/","title":{"rendered":"Disgruntled $30M CB Linked to Cowboys After New DC Rips Up Matt Eberflus\u2019 Playbook"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Cowboys<\/a> are wasting little time addressing their defensive struggle ahead of the 2026 season, and now a potential trade option could be the answer they have been looking for. With the new defensive coordinator Christian Parker pulling off major moves, Dallas has now emerged as a landing spot for an Indianapolis Colts cornerback, who has already requested his trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for potential landing spots [for Kenny Moore II], I think Dallas would be one, with the nickel being an important piece in new coordinator Christian Parker\u2019s defense,\u201d noted the NFL writer Albert Breer. \u201cAnd the Cowboys having a hole after Jourdan Lewis\u2019s departure to the Jaguars last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kenny Moore II mutually agreed with theColts<\/a>, seeking a trade for the 2026 campaign, which will be his final year with the two-time Super Bowl champions. The possible trade would end his nine-year tenure at Indianapolis, which began in 2017.<\/p>\n

The CB signed a $30 million contract extension in 2024 for three years, paying him an average salary of $10 million a year. In the final year of his contract, his base salary is $9.4 million, while his cap hit is $13.11 million. Nevertheless, it doesn\u2019t include guaranteed money, which could be a reason behind the mutual trading decision.<\/p>\n

As the Cowboys are emerging as the potential new home for the cornerback, the Colts will carry a financial burden in this deal. Trading him before June 1 would cost the franchise dead money of about $6 million. On the other hand, a post-June 1 trade would push that price to almost half at $3.2 million.<\/p>\n

Spending nine years at the Colts, the 30-year-old has featured in 132 games, starting 111. From his second season onwards, he established himself as a regular starter. In his full career with the Blue and White, he has logged 649 total tackles and 11.5 sacks. Additionally, he has six forced fumbles to his name.<\/p>\n

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However, the 2025 season saw his opportunities shrink significantly, as he started only half of the 14 games he played. The fewer games also affected the production of the 2021 Pro-Bowler, and it could be another reason he is looking for a new start elsewhere.<\/p>\n

As Moore\u2019s name circulated in Cowboys\u2019 trade discussions, he could easily shine in Christian Parker\u2019s new system, particularly at the nickel cornerback position, a glaring hole yet to be filled after the exit of the veteran Jourdan Lewis to the Jacksonville Jaguars last year.<\/p>\n

While the Cowboys tried filling up Lewis\u2019 shoes with DaRon Bland, it proved to be an unsuccessful move, as he preferred playing outside more. This is where Moore\u2019s signing could be a game-changer for Christian Parker because he is regarded as one of the elite slot defenders in the league today. Given the 30-year-old has only a year left in his contract, the Colts might get a Day 3 NFL draft<\/a> pick, potentially a 4th or 5th rounder from this trade.<\/p>\n

If Moore lands in Dallas, he will be playing a new defensive system under Christian Parker, which will be drastically different from last season\u2019s play that contributed to the Cowboys\u2019 defensive struggles.<\/p>\n

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The Cowboys move on from Matt Eberflus\u2019 blueprint<\/p>\n

Last season, Jerry Jones brought in former Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus as the new defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, but the plan backfired. He followed the 4-3 base, a system the franchise had been following since 2012. Following the base, the franchise ranked at the bottom, giving away most points in the league (511 points). Moreover, they held the same spot in the passing defense.<\/p>\n

The new Cowboys DC Christian Parker is set to rip up Eberflus\u2019 playbook, introducing the 3-4 base after 13 years. Although 3-4 remains the base, he is set to switch to 4-3 spacing and 4-2-5 nickel, depending on the opponent, while remaining unpredictable.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo our core principles, we\u2019ll be a 3-4 by nature,\u201d said Parker shortly after his hiring earlier this year. \u201cBut 4-3 spacing will be appropriate, 4-2-5 in nickel, different front structures, coverages behind it. But I will say being multiple is probably the most important thing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Unlike Eberflus\u2019 HITS (Hustle, Intensity, Takeaways and playing Smart) principle, the nickel cornerback role is crucial in Parker\u2019s new system, which is why a versatile player like Kenny Moore could turn out to be a useful weapon. The Cowboys have already signed defensive players like Jalen Thompson, Cobie Durant, Otito Ogbonnia, and Derion Kendrick, showing Jerry Jones\u2019 aggressiveness to reshape the entire defensive unit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Cowboys are wasting little time addressing their defensive struggle ahead of the 2026 season, and now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":866078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[7453,1443,96665,11728,2005,257,3430,2792,117569,473,7,2004,392,2381,41321,213,2950,1120,26555,58,9113,6,10730,1119,3081],"class_list":{"0":"post-866077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-albert-breer","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-christian-parker","11":"tag-cobie-durant","12":"tag-colts","13":"tag-dallas-cowboys","14":"tag-daron-bland","15":"tag-defensive-coordinator","16":"tag-defensive-struggle","17":"tag-derion-kendrick","18":"tag-football","19":"tag-indianapolis","20":"tag-indianapolis-colts","21":"tag-indianapoliscolts","22":"tag-inglewood","23":"tag-jaguars","24":"tag-jalen-thompson","25":"tag-jourdan-lewis","26":"tag-kenny-moore","27":"tag-los-angeles-rams","28":"tag-matt-eberflus","29":"tag-nfl","30":"tag-otito-ogbonnia","31":"tag-the-cowboys","32":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116402104855081053","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=866077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}