We’ve seen the New Orleans Saints embrace their youth movement this offseason, and now they’re one of the NFL’s ten youngest teams. That doesn’t mean they should avoid good players over 30 out of principle. With the Indianapolis Colts releasing veteran defensive back Kenny Moore II from his contract, it’s an opportunity to clean up one of their weakest roster. Someone needs to take over from Alontae Taylor in the slot, and that player may not be on the roster right now. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported news of Moore’s release, with his colleague Jeremy Fowler noting that “Moore was due $10M in 2026, but this move wasn’t really about that — more so getting into the right fit and scheme for the player.”
Taylor, 32, led the Saints with 566 snaps in the slot last season; every other defender combined for just 363 snaps. If they had to play a game today, it would probably be a safety like Julian Blackmon manning the slot when the Saints work out of nickel personnel. Moore lined up in the slot on 4,804 of his 7,742 career snaps with the Colts.
What about in zone coverage? The Saints shifted to more zone looks under Brandon Staley (about 68% of the time) than when Dennis Allen was running the defense (at almost 61%), per Pro Football Focus charting. Last season, Taylor ranked 94th in NFL passer rating allowed among 133 qualifying defensive backs. Moore ranked 46th. Taylor also gave up three touchdown passes when working out of zone, but Moore didn’t allow any.
Missing tackles has also been a problem for Taylor; PFF had him with 61 misses over the last four years. In the same span of time, Moore missed 41 of them. That’s an average of one missed tackle per 87.6 snaps played for Moore and 61.4 for Taylor. Last season Moore averaged a depth of tackle at 2.4 yards in run defense, meaning he was penetrating further upfield than Taylor at 4.0 yards. Moore has fewer penalties (14) than Taylor (20), too. That isn’t to say Moore would be a perfect replacement. At 32, he’d be more of a temporary fix for New Orleans than a long-term solution. But if you’re looking for a scheme fit who isn’t as prone to mistakes in coverage and can reliably tackle upfield, Moore might be your guy.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Colts cut Kenny Moore; veteran nickel is a great fit for Saints