When it comes to Washington Commanders cornerback Marshon Lattimore, a little change might be a good thing after the 4-time Pro Bowler suffered through a forgettable 2024 season.
The Commanders announced Lattimore will switch jersey numbers in 2025, going from No. 23 to No. 2. Wide receiver Dyami Brown wore No. 2 in 2024 but signed a 1-year, $10 million free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars on March 10.
“Cornerback Marshon Lattimore will be donning a new number in 2025, and he’s going back to his college roots,” Commanders.com’s Zach Selby wrote on April 3. “Lattimore, who wore No. 23 in his first season with the Commanders in 2024, will be wearing the No. 2 jersey — the same number he wore at Ohio State — for his ninth NFL season. The jersey number has sentimental value for Lattimore. It was the same number he wore playing at Glenville High School in Cleveland, Ohio, as a cornerback and wide receiver.”
Lattimore was one of the nation’s highest-rated recruits coming out of Glenville High and in 3 seasons at Ohio State he won a College Football Playoff national championship in 2014 and was an All-Big Ten pick in 2016. The New Orleans Saints selected him in the first round (No. 11 overall) in the 2017 NFL draft.
Lattimore Struggled to Stay Healthy in 2024
Lattimore was traded to the Commanders at the 2024 trade deadline, along with a 2025 fifth round pick in exchange for Washington’s third round pick, fourth round pick and sixth round pick in 2025.
Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon called out Lattimore as the “Most Overpaid Player” on the Commanders’ roster in 2025. The 4-time Pro Bowler is scheduled to make $18 million in 2025 and $36.5 million over the final 2 seasons of the 5-year, $97.6 million contract extension he signed with the Saints in September 2021.
Lattimore’s high salary number is something the Commanders were well aware of when they traded for him.
“(Lattimore) didn’t suddenly get it back in a new setting down the stretch in 2024, and that’s unlikely to change as he hasn’t really been a reliable NFL presence since 2021,” Gagnon wrote. “The 28-year-old’s best days are far behind him, but he will cost Washington $18 million as the eighth-highest-paid cornerback in the league in 2025.”
Lattimore only played in 2 of a possible 8 regular-season games after the trade, but was on the roster for all 3 of Washington’s postseason games on the way to the franchise’s first NFC Championship Game appearance since 1991.
His most notable moment in the playoffs wasn’t a big play but a fight with Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown in the NFC Championship Game.
Commanders Don’t Have Depth at Cornerback
On paper, it makes sense to release Lattimore and get back the entire $18 million in salary cap space. That money could probably buy a decent cornerback and safety from what’s left of the free agent market.
The outside chance Lattimore could return to something resembling his dominant form from a few years ago should keep him on the roster. That, along with the fact the Commanders don’t have another proven cover cornerback on the roster and will rely heavily on Lattimore to start the season, at least.
