The Washington Commanders’ missing piece of their Super Bowl puzzle may have just been found.
Washington has traded for New Orleans Saints four-time Pro Bowler, cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
With the Saints scuffling at 2-7, owners of seven straight losses and a freshly fired head coach, and imminent cap hell that will require some front office gymnastics, they were bound to be sellers at the deadline.
The 7-2 Commanders took advantage.
Sitting in first place in the NFC East, and looking every bit the team that can make a deep postseason run, and potentially even come out of the NFC, it was time to make a splash move.
Washington’s general manager, Adam Peters, just went for the cannonball.
Splash move indeed.
Peters isn’t just satisfied with a playoff push. The Commanders are one game clear of the Philadelphia Eagles and already look just a couple of wins away from at least a wild card.
By making this move for the elite corner, he’s signaling to the rest of the league that he’s pushing for much more.
He’s pushing for the Lombardi Trophy.
While Jayden Daniels has had a historic rookie year, and the offense has been better than anyone ever thought they could be in Daniels’ first year, the defense was and still is a concern.
However, adding a new player in the middle of the season isn’t always easy.
But with Lattimore on the way, a lot of those concerns have now been answered.
For a four-time Pro Bowler and the 2017 Defensive Rookie of the Year, the Commanders have given up a third, a fourth, and a sixth round pick. In exchange for Lattimore and a 5th round pick, per NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.
Head coach Dan Quinn was asked on Monday during his media availability, how you handle adding a player at the deadline.
“At the core of the program, it’s led through competition and trying to compete to become as good as we can be,” Quinn said.
“That’s really where it starts, what’s best for the team?
“If you stay through to that even in the most difficult questions, you always keep that in mind.
“It’s a factor for sure, but at the end of it, it’s still about competing.”
If it’s competing that Quinn is worried about, he won’t have a problem with Lattimore.
The cornerback has made a name for himself, other than being an elite talent, but for being a fiery competitor.
For a secondary in Washington that was missing a little bit of bite, Lattimore will be the perfect fit.
Don’t look now, but the Commanders are all in.
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