Firework NFL Trade Ideas That Would Transform The League in 2024

Minnesota Vikings receive: CB Marshon Lattimore

New Orleans Saints receive: 2025 fifth-round pick, 2026 third-round pick

Hypotheticals surrounding the future of Marshon Lattimore have circled overhead for months.

Recent statements out of New Orleans expect Lattimore to remain in town for 2024, but it was just a few months ago when team GM Mickey Loomis failed to mince words on the immediate future of his superstar corner.

“Everybody is tradable,” Loomis said.

“It just depends on the offer that you get. … And yet, that’s not very common. … I don’t like trading players that have been contributors for us.”

Projected to be a league-high $88.2 million over the 2025 cap (more than double of any team in the NFL) trading Lattimore would present the Saints with much needed flexibility. A former first-rounder out of Ohio State, Lattimore has a reasonable cap hit of $14.6 million in 2024, but that figure is set to rise to $31.4 million the following season and $28.6 million in 2026.

From a roster perspective, blueprinting a deal for Lattimore now should be a far more realistic option than it was pre-draft. New Orleans traded up in the second round to select corner Kool-Aid McKinstry, a confident and fluid man corner who could be ready to start when September rolls around. And for much cheaper than what Lattimore would demand.

If the long-time Saint in Lattimore is made available, expect brass in Minnesota to kick the tires.

Adding impact talent on defense has been a goal of Minnesota over the last few drafts. The team spent high capital to add corner Andrew Booth Jr (second round) and safety Lewis Cine (first round) in the 2022 draft, but neither player has remotely lived up to expectation in their first few campaigns.

While Lattimore has struggled with injuries in his last two seasons, he was a Pro Bowler in four of his first five years and, when healthy, has proven himself as one of the NFL’s elite.

Minnesota has $26.3 million in 2024 cap space remaining and possesses $54.5 million in projected 2025 cap room. Meaning, the team has more than enough room to fit Lattimore’s contract while maintaining assets to allocate elsewhere.

Akayleb Evans took a step last fall, and the team looks to have hit on 2023 third-rounder Mekhi Blackmon, but Lattimore would immediately become the Vikings’ top perimeter stalwart. Whether he starts opposite of Byron Murphy Jr or Shaq Griffin, slotting in Lattimore’s physical style of play within Brian Flores’ defense could be a match that jigsaws seamlessly.