ESPN Gives Colts High Marks for Kenny Moore Re-Signing
The Indianapolis Colts have been busy during the free agency contact period the last several days, but most of the work has been in-house.
That includes re-signing cornerback Kenny Moore II to a record-setting deal.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Colts and Moore agreed on a three-year, $30 million extension. The deal makes Moore the 19th-highest-paid cornerback in the NFL in terms of average annual value – highest among slot corners – and keeps him in Indy through the 2026 season.
ESPN gave the Colts a 'B' for the contract they gave Grover Stewart, and upped the mark to a 'B+' for Moore's deal.
"A slot corner who never leaves the field, Moore is a valuable part of the Colts' defense," wrote Seth Walder on ESPN+. "And the numbers back it up -- among slot corners with at least 300 coverage snaps, Moore's 1.0 yards per coverage snap allowed ranked seventh-best and his EPA allowed ranked fifth-best, per NFL Next Gen Stats research.
"Slot corners are always going to be cheaper, and at $10 million per year, Moore does not cost a ton. In fact, that's slightly cheaper in terms of APY than the extension he signed in 2019 after adjusting for salary cap inflation, according to OverTheCap data."
We've maintained the Colts have the financial flexibility to take care of their own free agents and be players in free agency. That included big deals for Michael Pittman and Moore as well as re-signing Stewart.
The Colts still have $35 million in available cap space, good for 12th in the NFL, according to Spotrac.
If the Colts don't find the right fits in free agency, they can roll their cap savings into 2025 when their focus can turn to outside free agents instead of internal.
However, we don't think the Colts are done. While many of the big-ticket free agents are already spoken for, there are still dozens of players the Colts can target to help the 2024 squad.
