The Indianapolis Colts are hoping to trade slot cornerback Kenny Moore II, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, as the team is hoping to get younger and more athletic. The problem is that moving Moore doesn't make them better. At least, Moore has a great attitude about the situation.
Per ESPN Colts insider Stephen Holder, Moore texted him after Schefter broke the news about the team and the player mutually agreeing to seek a trade, "It's all good. It's all love."
Maybe both sides are fine with Indy dealing Moore elsewhere, but that comes with many obvious complications. For Moore, he knows he is set to be paid by the Colts through 2026, and should the team not find a trade partner and Indy simply release the corner, the team saves $7,060,000, but Moore is guaranteed nothing. He has zero dollars of the latter next season.
Kenny Moore II takes the high road in response to the Indianapolis Colts seeking to trade him
Basically, while Indianapolis wants to rid itself of a solid producer in Moore, the player has to go along with the decision because he cannot risk looking like a locker room problem for a new team. The hope for the player is that a new team would give him an extension after he is dealt.
But general manager Chris Ballard is also risking his career in Indianapolis with what he has done this offseason defensively. Trading Moore, who has spent all nine seasons of his NFL life with the Colts and has been a long-term starter in the slot, might allow the team to get younger, but Ballard is gambling that Moore's replacement will be just as good.
It is one thing for a team to say, in theory, it would like to get younger and more athletic, which Ballard has claimed several times this offseason, but it is another to trust one's own decision-making enough that lots of moves to get younger will equate to immediate success in a year where the team needs to make the playoffs.
Moving Moore doesn't mean the Indianapolis Colts are better, but likely just younger. He is 32 years old and almost certainly close to the end of his career. He isn't not good anymore, though. He is still one of the more productive players at his position in the NFL.
Simply dealing Kenny Moore without an obvious and proven replacement (Justin Walley might be the next man up, but he was injured in what was his rookie season last year) doesn't make a defense that has already lost safety Nick Cross, linebacker Zaire Franklin, and edge rusher Kwity Paye better. Still, Ballard is risking his future that the team will be.