The New Orleans Saints pulled the trigger on a deal that sent one of their defensive stars to an up-and-coming Commanders squad, and it's hard to argue with the move on either side.
Washington gets a star corner to aid in their playoff push alongside a suddenly exciting offense and roster, while the Saints get two extra mid-round picks (Washington's Rd. 3 and 4 selections) to aid in whatever level of a rebuild is coming after a 2-7 start.
"I love to accumulate picks. It makes our job easier sitting here on draft days to talk about draft choices," Mike Detiller said on WWL after the trade, "but you’ve got to pick the right guy. You can talk about all the picks ... but that’s gonna be the thing for the Saints, picking the right people."
Listen to more from Mike Detillier and Sports Talk in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Since 2018 the Saints have left a lot to be desired in that department. Of the 16 players selected from 2018-'20, only two players remain on the roster (Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz). It's in stark contrast to the vaunted 2017 draft, which only two players remain from if you include Ryan Ramczyk along with Alvin Kamara who tied his career high with 155 rushing yards last week. Still, there's no questioning the impact. Lattimore was the top pick that year at No. 11 and went on to win Defensive Rookie of the Year and be named to the Pro Bowl four times in his seven full Saints seasons.
"He’s the best cornerback in the history of this franchise, and there’s a big gap between 1 and 2," Detillier continued. "He is that good. He could start for any team in the National Football League. He’s skilled and we will always remember those battles, 1-on-1 with Mike Evans and man, they went at it, but you know, the last couple years with Lattimore it’s been the health, getting him back on the field and he sort of almost like tapped the brakes on getting back. I think a lot of people in that facility sort of felt he could come back quicker, but he didn’t."
Related
One more thing Detillier emphasized that seems to be flying under the radar is the cap hit. Lattimore's departure means prorated bonuses on his contract accelerate to the 2025 season, where his cap hit will land at $31.6 million. The Saints will be clear of that money by 2026, but getting under the cap for next year becomes more complicated. The Saints are currently projected to be $61 million over the cap and will need to restructure contracts to get there. Lattimore's deal could've been reworked to clear over $12 million in space, but that's no longer on the table. The Saints currently have more than enough restructure potential to get there, but that will require committing to several aging veterans down the line with restructured deals.
In simple terms there are two paths available:
- Restructure Derek Carr and a handful of other deals, retaining flexibility with some veteran deals OR
- Restructure EVERYONE else, and that still might not be enough
“Many people, well, we’ve got to to get rid of Derek Carr. Uh, he’s gonna be here in 2025," Detllier said. "I don’t know what happens after that, but you're going to have to go to the bank of Carr to bail yourself out in 2025. That’s just the bottom line with it. That’s not gonna change, because when you’ve kind of kicked this money can over and over again, eventually that credit card bill got to be paid.”