Dan Quinn will most likely fall asleep tonight, smiling.
Tuesday, the Commanders obtained Saints’ cornerback Marshon Lattimore and a fifth-round draft choice. The Commanders dealt a third, fourth, and sixth-round choice to the Saints in return for the four-time Pro Bowler.
Quinn was understandably upbeat when talking as a Sirius XM NFL Radio guest.
“We’re going to keep competing in every way that we can,” expressed Quinn. “This was another example of how to do that.”
In expressing why they were interested in making this trade, Quinn stressed, “We love his toughness, his ability to play man-to-man, to guard people.”
When Quinn was the head coach with the Falcons, he recalled Lattimore facing the top receivers in that division twice each season. Quinn said that was “a big deal.”
Quinn likes that Lattimore was Terry McLaurin’s and Noah Brown’s college teammate at Ohio State. He believes this move really gives the Commanders an opportunity to elevate themselves.
“We’re really pumped to add him to the crew,” Quinn said excitedly.
One reason might be that this addition could improve the Commanders in three positions. Lattimore becomes the top corner, Benjamin St-Juste becomes a stronger No. 2 corner, and Mike Sainristil now moves to the slot where he is most effective.
Quinn might also be glad to have Lattimore because Quinn believes in, wants, and demands competitiveness. Remember the great physical battles between Lattimore and Tampa’s Mike Evans?
Quinn might be pumped, but shouldn’t Lattimore be pumped as well? The Saints are 2-7 and just lost to the Panthers. The Commanders lost on opening day at Tampa Bay and have won 7 of 8 games since then. He was playing for a team that had only scored 207 points in nine games. Now, he partners with a team that has the fourth-highest point differential in the NFL. How much better is the quarterback room in Washington than in New Orleans?
So, sum it up like this. How many years has it been since a Washington Redskins / Commanders fan was heard saying, “This year, we are going for it.”
