Saints send $97 million cornerback to NFC North in trade scenario
With the recent firing of head coach Dennis Allen, the New Orleans Saints are staring at a potential lengthy rebuild in the near future. After what looked to be a promising season due to their 2-0 start, New Orleans dropped their ensuing seven games and now occupy last place in the NFC South. Their loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 9 was the nail-in-the-coffin for any potential comeback they could make this season.
Now that the Saints are 2-7 and not competing for a playoff spot, they’re being viewed as a team to part with players at Tuesday’s trade deadline. There’s been a few names thrown around in hypothetical scenarios over the last few weeks, one of them being star cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
Lattimore’s dealt with lingering injuries over the last several seasons and it’s no different in 2024. However, there’s no denying his impact when healthy, as the 28-year-old corner is still viewed as one of the league’s best.
Bleacher Report’s scouting department analyzed every team’s weakness ahead of the trade deadline and offered one move they should make now. They had the Saints trading Lattimore to the Green Bay Packers.
Eric Stokes has struggled this season, and Jaire Alexander is battling a knee injury. Also, Stokes is an impending free agent, so cornerback will be an offseason need for the club, which is part of what makes trading for Lattimore a good idea.
Seeing as the Saints have a troublesome cap situation to deal with in the upcoming offseason, letting go of Lattimore sounds like an ideal move. The article goes on to state that Green Bay’s projected $53 million in cap space for 2025 would be enough to take on Lattimore’s deal, which includes a $31.4 million hit next season.
New Orleans is expected to be $77.3 million over the salary cap next year and trading Lattimore now would save $10.8 million in 2025. It may not solve the Saints’ entire money issue, but they’d certainly receive a decent return in draft capital for their star corner.