The Dallas Cowboys managed to hire one of the most sought-after defensive coordinator candidates on the market in Christian Parker, which seems like a necessary move to turn around a historically bad defense. He may not be as well-known as Jim Leonhard, but Parker shouldn't be underestimated.
It's exciting enough that Jerry Jones finally strayed away from his MO of hiring former head coaches, but stealing a top defensive assistant from a division rival has made a good move look even better. Hopefully, the sabotage of the Eagles' defense doesn't end after hiring Parker.
After spending the last two years as the passing game coordinator and DBs coach in Philadelphia, it goes without saying that the 34-year-old is well-respected. After all, Eagles star cornerback Cooper DeJean was pretty bummed about his departure on Twitter, so maybe he can bring some Eagles along with him to Dallas.
Unfortunately, they don't have a ton of eye-opening impending free agents in the secondary, but they have the next best thing for the team to pursue in veteran linebacker Nakobe Dean, who's future in Philly looks a bit murky.
Christian Parker can win Cowboys fans over if he uses his Eagles connections to lure Nakobe Dean to Dallas
The Cowboys boast one of the NFL's worst linebacking corps, so Dean would be an instant upgrade. When Demarvion Overshown is on the field, he's great, but he's struggled to stay healthy, Kenneth Murray was one of the league's worst LBs in 2025, and the Logan Wilson trade was a complete bust.
Dean just turned 25, so he would be a centerpiece of this defense for years to come. Once the Georgia product returned from injury midseason, he quietly looked like the heart and soul of a Vic Fangio-led Eagles' defense that ranked top five in scoring defense for the second consecutive season.
From a financial standpoint, the Eagles don't have the cap space to sign him, and they already have his replacement waiting in the wings in 2025 first-rounder Jihaad Campbell. They're also paying Zack Baun, so investing heavily in a third linebacker would be a weird choice from general manager Howie Roseman.
According to Pro Football Focus, Dean's 92.3 pass rush grade ranked third among all qualified linebackers in 2025. He logged four sacks in just 10 games, which would add some juice to a pass-rush that improved considerably after the Quinnen Williams trade.
Dean is a bit undersized, but his IQ and sheer athleticism certainly make up for that. He's a good tackler in space and is solid in coverage, so as a jack-of-all-trades linebacker like he was in Philadelphia, hopefully Parker can entice Dean to turn heel and come to Dallas.