Marshon Lattimore's future with Commanders should be up in the air after very disappointing 2024 experience
It's safe to say that the Marshon Lattimore trade has not worked out in the Washington Commanders' favor, so far.And Dan Quinn and Adam Peters need to think really hard on whether or not they need him around in 2025 and beyond. Not only has Lattimore been hurt and unavailable for about 75% of the time […]
It's safe to say that the Marshon Lattimore trade has not worked out in the Washington Commanders' favor, so far.
And Dan Quinn and Adam Peters need to think really hard on whether or not they need him around in 2025 and beyond.
Not only has Lattimore been hurt and unavailable for about 75% of the time he's been with the team – he hasn't been very good when he's played. Once again on Sunday, he allowed big plays and drew crucial defensive pass interferences that helped the opposing offense score touchdowns. He's been nothing close to the lockdown corner that the Commanders traded for back in November.
Since he only played 1-1/2 games in the regular season, the postseason is our best sample size when it comes to numbers and Lattimore was bad in the playoffs. He played 61 coverage snaps in the postseason. He was targeted eight times and allowed six catches for 78-yards and a touchdown on said targets. One of the targets was Sunday's defensive pass interference call, so he allowed just one incompletion when targeted in the postseason. His allowed QB rating of 147.9 is sixth-worst out of all 55 cornerbacks with at least one postseason coverage snap and he didn't record a single pass break-up or a forced incompletion, per Pro Football Focus.
And if you're into grades: Lattimore's grade of 33.1 was worst of all Commanders cornerbacks and third-worst out of the aforementioned 55 corners. Grades are certainly not the end-all-be-all, but man, the dude cannot be the worst-graded cornerback on his own team – that's just unacceptable.
Especially when considering how much the Commanders are on the hook for regarding his 2025 and 2026 salaries.
For starters, Lattimore is due a $2 million roster bonus on the fifth day of the new league year, which is March 16. He's locked in for that amount and it's unlikely the Commanders move him or release him once that's paid out. Then, it's a $16 million base salary. The Commanders could restructure that and make it a bonus to where they can prorate the money and lower the cap hit but 1) Washington isn't in any kind of need of cap help so that feels unnecessary and 2) prorating the money adds more safety to Lattimore's future, to an extent, so it's probably not the best option. None of the money is guaranteed so even if things go terribly wrong later on and he needs to be released midseason or something, then they won't owe any money against the cap. It's all liquid and it's the same process in 2026, with a $16.5 million base salary instead of $16 million.
The hope is a full offseason that allows Lattimore to get healthy is what helps him get back on track, but the key with a lot of his poor play isn't health-related. An injured hamstring isn't the reason A.J. Brown bullied him at the line of scrimmage on the 31-yard reception that allowed the Eagles to convert a fourth down in the NFC Championship Game. Injuries aren't what caused him to lose his cool, get his helmet ripped off by Brown, and proceed to get flagged for unnecessary roughness that prompted the Eagles to try and go for two points in a game that was still within reach.
There's zero guarantee Lattimore becomes the asset Adam Peters envisioned when he traded for him and there's certainly an exit door that won't cost the Commanders a dime in terms of the salary cap. Yes, the missed draft capital isn't ideal, but smart GMs don't put sunk costs on a pedestal – they get rid of them and get rid of them swiftly.
It's certainly something they should chew on and as mentioned earlier, they have the assets to replace him in either free agency and/or the draft. Washington currently has over $87.5 in projected cap space and seven draft picks – it can certainly be picky when it comes to what it wants to do with Lattimore.
Dan Quinn’s postgame comments make Commanders’ loss to Eagles sting even more than it already does
At one point late in third quarter, it looked like Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders were on track to pull of some more late-game magic. Daniels and Co. scored a touchdown then converted a two-point conversion that cut the Philadelphia Eagles' lead to 11-points and then the defense forced a punt on the subsequent […]
