It’s important to remember that the NFL Scouting Combine isn’t just about the college prospects working out ahead of the 2024 draft; it’s also a mixer for personnel around the league to have dinner and drinks with players’ agents ahead of free agency, and for reporters to sit down with their contacts to gossip and source information.
Which is how we got this interesting nugget from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, who emptied his notebook after a week in Indianapolis steakhouses, pubs, and other informal meeting-places.
And, based off what he’s learned, there’s a fierce market developing for talented cornerbacks. Fowler lists the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins among the teams looking to move most aggressively in upgrading their depth charts. And the New Orleans Saints could be in their crosshairs.
“Several teams believe Saints corner Marshon Lattimore — whose base salary is a paltry $1.2 million due to a restructure — is also available via a trade,” Fowler wrote. But that’s misleading.
While it’s true that Lattimore’s base salary is set at the league minimum of $1.21 million, that isn’t the only cost an acquiring team would have to pay. He’s also due to receive a $13.79 million roster bonus which will trigger one week before the start of the regular season, giving everyone involved a deadline to work out a deal. He’s going to receive $15 million in compensation from whichever team he’s playing for in the fall.
So while that lower base salary could make him more appealing to other teams in casual trade talks in March, teams are going to look at the situation with more scrutiny when they get down to brass tacks in June (when it’ll be easier for the Saints to trade Lattimore, for accounting purposes). Trading Lattimore before June 1 would cost the Saints a staggering $31.2 million in dead money. Waiting until after that date lessens the blow with charges of $10.6 million and $20.6 million in dead money for 2024 and 2025, respectively.
It’s a complicated contract situation, to be sure. And the easiest path out of it is getting everyone in New Orleans back on the same page so Lattimore can continue making plays for the Saints for years to come. But there are going to be teams willing to acquire him even if they have to wait it out through free agency and the 2024 NFL draft. We’ll just have to wait and see whether their patience wears off or if cooler heads prevail in New Orleans.
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