Washington Commanders win race for Marshon Lattimore in huge trade with the New Orleans Saints

The Washington Commanders acquired cornerback Marshon Lattimore in a deal with the New Orleans Saints ahead of the NFL trade deadline.

Washington sends the third, fourth and sixth rounds to New Orleans and gets a fifth in return along with Lattimore.

Lattimore, 28, provides an immediate upgrade on defense for the Commanders, who are off to a surprising 7-2 start to the season and have become deadline buyers due to unexpected playoff aspirations.

He should start at cornerback alongside Benjamin St-Juste and rookie Mike Sainristil in a secondary that also features impressive safeties Jeremy Chinn and Quan Martin.

Trading Lattimore is the latest shake-up for the Saints after coach Dennis Allen was fired following a seventh straight loss, dropping them to 2-7.

The 2017 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and four-time Pro Bowl selection was dogged by hamstring injuries that forced him to miss games and had been the subject of trade rumors for some time.

Lattimore hasn’t allowed a touchdown to be scored on him in coverage since 2021, a strength that makes up for the fact that he only had two interceptions in that time.

His restructured contract also made him a cheap acquisition for Washington.

First-year general manager Adam Peters also did not have to give up many assets that the organization did not yet have when he was appointed in January.

Peters received a third-round pick from Philadelphia in the August trade, sending receiver Jahan Dotson to the Eagles, and the sixth to the Saints is their own pick after acquiring defensive tackle John Ridgeway from the Commanders just before the start of the season.