Speculation is picking up on what the New Orleans Saints may do with cornerback Marshon Lattimore this offseason. It makes sense — the pro football world just gathered in Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine and Lattimore’s unique contract restructure signaled to teams that he could be available in a trade. But what could the Saints get back from him?
In an otherwise very thorough, informative, and well-conceived analysis of the situation, Over The Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald missed the mark in suggesting what sort of compensation the Saints could hope for in trading Lattimore. When considering what New Orleans might get back, he suggested:
Probably not too much. Jalen Ramsey who was just one year older was traded for a 3rd round pick and a 3rd round tight end who never saw the field in two years. Lattimore is not considered as good as Ramsey and has a far more extensive injury history. Both cases are going to be seen as salary dumps which lessens the value. So you might be looking at something like a 5th round pick being the base compensation. The benefit for the Saints is because this would be a trade that happens post draft it may be easier to get conditions on availability and team success that could get it close to the Ramsey range. The Saints would probably want to get the trade done before the start of camp which would limit their liability in the event of Lattimore being injured in camp.
That would be a major disappointment for Saints fans, and arguably a fireable offense for general manager Mickey Loomis. Great players require great compensation, and a fifth rounder hardly matches that description. Fitzgerald is wrong to characterize this as a salary dump — the Saints aren’t open to trading Lattimore because he’s making too much money. They’re open to trading him because of a conflict with either head coach Dennis Allen or the team medical staff (or both), and the explicit consideration that Lattimore is one of the few assets the team could hope to trade and get back something worthwhile to help rebuild their roster.
And it’s inaccurate to suggest Lattimore is “not considered as good as Ramsey” because if Lattimore isn’t in that conversation, then who is? Even if Lattimore has missed 17 games to injuries over the last two years, he’s tied for the 17th-most interceptions (7) and 14th-most passes defensed (42) among cornerbacks since the 2020 season. Compare that to Ramsey’s 8 interceptions and 30 pass breakups in the same span, with Ramsey appearing in 11 more games. Obviously there’s more to the position than this but it’s disrespectful to Lattimore to undersell his performance like this.
Back to the Saints. It would be absurd for them to accept a fifth-round pick in exchange for Lattimore’s services. He’s worth so much more to the team than what any fifth-round rookie could hope to achieve. Since Jeff Ireland joined the scouting department back in 2015 the Saints have picked just one fifth rounder who spent his entire four-year contract with New Orleans; defensive tackle Tyeler Davison. Each of their other fifth-round picks has flopped, though it’s early for special teams linebacker D’Marco Jackson and second-year safety Jordan Howden.
Still. Unless the Saints are desperate to move Lattimore, and there’s no indication they are without him being granted permission to seek a trade (to say nothing of New Orleans not actively shopping him at this week’s combine), it’s going to take a good offer to pry him away. It has to. It would be unacceptable for Loomis to sell so low on one of the team’s most talented playerse.
