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After spending the first seven years of his career playing for the Green Bay Packers, Rashan Gary will don a new uniform in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season when he suits up for the Dallas Cowboys. And so far, the 2024 Pro Bowler appears smitten with his new defensive home. Talking to Rich Eisen on his namesake show about his early impression of Dallas' defense, Gary couldn't help but gush about first-year coordinator Christian Parker, who is like a “magician” with a clipboard when he's calling plays. “Man, what can he not do? He understands the back, and he understands the fronts,” Gary said. “He understands how offense wants to, you know, attack our defenses, and on top of that, he understands how to maximize his players. And that's in terms of, you know, freeing up more one-on-ones or finding an opportunity to get a linebacker on a running back, you know, mixing up the coverage to play. Clouding the quarterback's mindset. I don't want to say too much, but he's a magician with what he does.” Asked what's different about Parker's early defensive looks from what he was used to in Green Bay, Gary noted that Dallas is using more varied fronts, rather than simply sticking to a 4-3 or 3-4. “You know, a little big more 3-4, so you're able to have mixing, but 3-4, four-down fronts, and just different things we're doing the back end,” Gary noted. After slowly working his way up the defensive coaching ranks over the last decade, Parker really elevated his stock as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles staff, coordinating the back end of a few very good Vic Fangio defenses. While the task of running the entire show solo is new for the 34-year-old, if Gary's assessment is correct, the Cowboys defense may just surprise folks when the live bullets begin to fly. "What can he not do? … He's a magician at what he does." —@RashanAGary on how good Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker is 🏈 (via @RichEisenShow) pic.twitter.com/SCmnZMWpUz — NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) August 12, 2026