Marshon Lattimore wound up playing in only two regular-season games and the playoffs for the Washington Commanders in 2024. Nonetheless, has he overstayed his welcome?
NFL.com writes this week that the former Pro Bowl cornerback is a salary cap cut candidate for the Commanders. The team made a surprising run to the NFC Championship Game despite him, not because of him.
"He was awful in the postseason, earning a horrific 29.6 coverage grade from PFF and allowing 10 catches for 172 yards and a 136.6 passer rating on 14 targets," the website writes. "With a release, his entire $18 million cap hit would become savings in 2025, and while the Commanders are in superb shape (projected to be $75 million under the cap), they might rather spend those millions elsewhere as they seek to build around Jayden Daniels and become a lasting powerhouse in the NFC. It would be a bit surprising to trade for a player of Lattimore’s career caliber and then cut him a few months later, but it might make too much sense, given all the variables."
General manager Adam Peters likely, however, won't cut a talented player that cost the team multiple draft picks at last season's trade deadline. But Lattimore must not only improve his play, but also clean up his act.
In the 55-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, Lattimore embarrassingly made the game about himself over his team. He engaged in several 1-on-1 skirmishes with A.J. Brown, and on two plays totally ignored the whereabouts of the ball to instead try to hit the receiver at the line of scrimmage.
Lattimore is no stranger to getting into fights. When he was a member of the New Orleans Saints, his feud with Tampa Bay Buccaneers' receiver Mike Evans left both fined and suspended multiple times.
When the two weren't scuffling, Brown caught six passes for 96 yards and a touchdown against Lattimore in the NFC title game.
He's a really good player, but I don't know," Brown said of Lattimore. "His persona kind of comes off like 'I'm finna bully you', and that's how it comes off. He's a good player, but I bully the bully. I'm not going for none of that out here. And those were the type of conversations, like 'Bro, why you are acting like this, what's up with you?' He's talking, he's doing weird stuff after the play, trying to shove you off the play. He's trying to get in your head."
