The New Orleans Saints made the difficult decision to trade cornerback Marshon Lattimore ahead of last year's trade deadline. They sent Lattimore to the Washington Commanders in exchange for three draft picks and knew that, in doing so, they might end up regretting it.
While we won't know how the Saints' three draft picks (which turned into Jonas Sanker, Quincy Riley, and Devin Neal) will fare until a few more years, it's safe to say that the Commanders are already having buyer's remorse on this deal. Lattimore has been downright dreadful since arriving in DC and he's been put on blast by the fans, especially after his latest outing against the Cowboys where he was picked apart by Dak Prescott.
Lattimore was once a near-lockdown corner during his days with the Saints but he's been anything but since joining the Commanders. When he's been healthy enough to play, he's become the player that opposing quarterbacks pick on and that was on full display in the Cowboys' blowout win over Washington on Sunday. Time and time again, Prescott sent the ball Lattimore's way and the former Saint couldn't do anything to stop the bleeding.
Saints’ gamble on Marshon Lattimore departure looks genius in hindsight
The Saints knew they weren't contending for anything meaningful last season. That paired with Lattimore's injury history meant that trading him made a lot of sense, even if fans might have found themselves having a hard time with it. Lattimore was once one of the best players on the Saints' entire roster, but it became clear that the guy couldn't stay healthy and last year was the time to try and get something in return for him.
The Commanders were desperate to improve their roster as they shocked the world by becoming a playoff contender. They continued to dominate after trading for Lattimore but he didn't play much of a part in all of that. He appeared in just two regular season games after arriving in DC and while he looked like his old self over the summer, clearly that didn't carry over into the regular season.
PFF has not been kind to Lattimore with their grades (nor should they be), grading him out at 48.0 overall and 45.9 in coverage. Yikes and yikes. The Saints have tended to stick with oft-injured players until it's too late and the wheels have fallen off but they were smart to send Lattimore elsewhere before the same thing happened to him in New Orleans.
Now the Commanders are left wishing they had kept those three picks and improved their roster in other ways while Saints fans are breathing a huge sigh of relief. A rare win for the black and gold.