The New Orleans Saints are once again in salary cap hell, and they might have to trade cornerback Marshon Lattimore to free up enough money for the 2024 season. In what’s become something of an annual tradition, the New Orleans Saints are restructuring everyone’s deal, refusing to rebuild and going all-in on the upcoming season.
As of this posting, the Saints have restructured enough contracts and cut enough veterans to clear up roughly $65 million in cap space. As things currently stand, the team is $15.5 million over the salary cap, so they still have some work to do before the 2024 league year officially begins, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes that the team will consider using a Marshon Lattimore trade to clear cap space.
For what it’s worth, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard this rumor. Back in January, Nick Underhill reported that a Marshon Lattimore trade could happen, and nobody has a stronger connection to the team than him.
New Orleans Saints Could Trade Marshon Lattimore Amid Salary Cap Woes
At first glance, the idea of a Marshon Lattimore trade seems strange. New Orleans keeps restructuring deals because they seem to believe they can win with their current core, so why would they move on from Lattimore?
However, a deeper dive shows that the Saints might be looking to trade Marshon Lattimore before the league realizes he’s starting to slow down. The four-time Pro Bowler has only played in a combined 17 games over the past two seasons, and he hasn’t been his usual dominant self even when healthy. According to Pro Football Focus, Lattimore was the 56th- and 51st-best cornerback in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
He’s still a good player, but is he worth his massive cap hit? Lattimore is currently on the books for $14.6 million in 2024, but that number drops to $13.4 million if they trade Marshon Lattimore after June 1st. While this means the team could not get any 2024 draft picks for his services, it will clear $1.2 million in much-needed cap space.
Best Team Fits
New England Patriots
The Patriots employ more man coverage than just about every other team in the league, and that sort of scheme cannot work without strong cornerback play. New England has one side of the field locked down with Christian Gonzalez, and they could trade for Marshon Lattimore to lock down the other side. The Patriots have too many offensive needs to fix in one offseason, so they might as well try to start winning games on defense.
Los Angeles Chargers
Despite having a strong pass rush, the Los Angeles Chargers had one of the worst defenses in football last year. While Brandon Staley’s scheme didn’t help matters, the cornerback play was abysmal. Marshon Lattimore may not be the lockdown corner he once was, but a trade would still improve the secondary. Jim Harbaugh is an old-school type of coach, so you know he’ll emphasize improving the defense with players like Lattimore.
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions have the offense to win the Super Bowl, but now they need a defense that can hold up their end of the bargain. With Ben Johnson, Jared Goff, and Amon-Ra St. Brown all coming back for another year, Detroit’s defense doesn’t need to be great, it just needs to be adequate. Acquiring Marshon Lattimore via trade will do wonders for a secondary desperate for some more playmakers, and combining him with an early draft pick could make the Lions the top team in the NFC.
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills quietly have a major issue at cornerback. Tre’Davious White is coming back from a season-ending Achilles injury, and there is a real chance he never finds his old form. Former first-round pick Kaiir Elam, meanwhile, has not come close to playing up to his draft stock. Thanks to the unexpected rise in the salary cap, the Bills should be able to trade for Marshon Lattimore and make the money work.
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens have several key free agents set to hit the open market, and they won’t be able to retain all of them. Instead of trying to replace multiple players in the front seven, Baltimore could instead decide to build up their secondary with a Marshon Lattimore trade. By improving the coverage, Baltimore’s new pass rushers will have more time to get after the quarterback and record sacks that way.
Main Photo: Troy Taormina – USA Today Sports
