The Washington Commanders made a trade with the New Orleans Saints to bring cornerback Marshon Lattimore to Washington for a package of draft picks. At the time, the defense needed some help in the secondary, and Lattimore was thought to be the missing piece of the puzzle.
Unfortunately, Lattimore only appeared in two regular-season games for the Commanders and played poorly in the postseason, which is why NFL.com identifies him as a potential salary cap cut candidate.
Marshon Lattimore is a four-time Pro Bowl cornerback … but those four Pro Bowl seasons all came between 2017 and 2021. Since 2022, he’s missed 25 games with a variety of injuries. Washington traded for him at the 2024 deadline, sending a package of picks but only getting two regular-season games and the three playoff contests out of him. And notably, he was awful in the postseason, earning a horrific 29.6 coverage grade from PFF and allowing 10 catches for 172 yards and a 136.6 passer rating on 14 targets. With a release, his entire $18 million cap hit would become savings in 2025, and while the Commanders are in superb shape (projected to be $75 million under the cap), they might rather spend those millions elsewhere as they seek to build around Jayden Daniels and become a lasting powerhouse in the NFC. It would be a bit surprising to trade for a player of Lattimore’s career caliber and then cut him a few months later, but it might make too much sense, given all the variables.
In his two regular-season games, Lattimore recorded four tackles (three solo) and defended three passes. After posting such horrid numbers in the post-season, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities for the Commanders to cut Lattimore and save that cap space.
All indications are Lattimore will remain with the Commanders. General manager Adam Peters said after the season he was looking forward to him being with the team all offseason and getting healthy.
This could be the year that Lattimore remains healthy and can contribute as he did when he first entered the league in 2017. Maybe all he needed was some rest. But will the Commanders keep him for a “maybe” or a “hope”? We’ll just have to wait and see.