With one move, the Washington Commanders made the biggest statement of the NFL trade deadline — it’s winning time in the nation’s capital.
One day after the Commanders sent the NFL in a tizzy by trading for New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore, the reaction from the players on the current roster was one of admiration for the front office for making the bold move.
The Saints sent Lattimore, a 4-time Pro Bowler, to the Commanders along with a 2025 fifth round pick in exchange for a 2025 third round pick, 2025 fourth round pick and 2025 fifth round pick.
The Commanders are 7-2 and in first place in the NFC East Division — their best start to a regular season since 1996.
“We want to win, and we want to win now,” Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner told ESPN’s John Keim on November 6. “It was cool for them to do that.”
Lattimore might not be available for the Commanders right away, as he’s nursing a hamstring injury that kept him out of the Saints’ loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 9.
The Commanders return to action in Week 10 against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by a Thursday Night Football road game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 11 then back-to-back home games against the Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans before a bye in Week 14.
Lattimore One of NFL’s Top Trade Targets
After the Saints lost their seventh consecutive game to drop to 2-7 and fired head coach Dennis Allen, it became clear the franchise was going to be sellers heading up to the November 5 trade deadline.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio identified Lattimore as one of the NFL’s most attractive trade targets
“Cornerback Marshon Lattimore, however, continues to be a magnet for trade chatter in league circles,” Florio wrote on November 2. “His contract runs through 2026. Trading him would trigger a $20.63 million cap charge for 2025, but it would clear $16 million in cash from the books. (His cap number for 2025 is $31.4 million.) At a 2024 base salary of $1.21 million, trading for Lattimore would not require his new team to devote much cap space to the acquisition. The challenge becomes 2025 and beyond.”
Lattimore Elite CB For Most of Last Decade
Lattimore was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2017 and made his first Pro Bowl that same season with a career-high interceptions in just 13 games. It was the first of 4 Pro Bowl nods for Lattimore, who has 15 career interceptions through his first 7 seasons.
In September 2021, Lattimore cashed in with a whopping, 5-year, $97.6 million contract extension that runs through 2026.
Injuries have been an issue for Lattimore in recent years. He missed 10 games with a lacerated kidney in 2022 and missed 7 games with an ankle injury in 7 games.
Once he’s healthy, Lattimore becomes a plug-and-play CB1 starter for the Commanders opposite fourth-year cornerback Benjamin St.-Juste, a third round pick out of Minnesota in 2021.
For all the talk that’s come to pass about the Commanders needing to improve their defense, they’ve been pretty good through the first half of the season. They’re 14th in the NFL in team defense and fifth in passing defense headed into Week 10.
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