The Washington Commanders were one of the surprise teams of the 2024 season, taking a strong rookie campaign from quarterback Jayden Daniels all the way to an NFC Championship Game appearance.
After ending the 2023 campaign as the second-worst team in the NFL, fortunes quickly changed for the Commanders. They hired a new head coach (Dan Quinn), a new offensive coordinator (Kliff Kingsbury), and a new general manager (Adam Peters), who drafted a new quarterback (Daniels) with the No. 2 overall pick.
At the deadline, rather than being sellers like they were the season prior, the Commanders actually pushed their chips in, trading for New Orleans Saints star cornerback Marshon Lattimore(and a fifth-round pick) in exchange for third-, fourth-, and sixth-round picks in this year’s draft.
Lattimore only played in two regular season games for the Commanders last year as he was nursing a lingering hamstring injury, but the cornerback returned for Weeks 15 and 16, and was a starter for all three playoff games.
Now, he’s expected to take over as the full-time CB1 for Washington in 2025 as he enters his age-29 season. He’ll be in the fourth year of the five-year, $97.6 million deal he signed with the Saints back in 2021.
Lattimore is set to make a base salary of $16 million in 2024 and $16.5 million in 2025, while having a $2 million roster bonus in each season. The Commanders are at a strong point financially, as they’re reaping the benefits of Jayden Daniels’ rookie season.
While Lattimore still has two years left on his deal, he has no guaranteed money remaining on his current contract. So, the Commanders could look to extend their No. 1 cornerback and provide some guarantees to remain in Washington for the remainder of his prime if he plays at a high level this season.
What could a potential extension for Lattimore look like?
Baseline numbers for a Marshon Lattimore contract extension
Now, Lattimore is in a unique category at 29 years old, as cornerbacks haven’t usually gotten major contracts going on the wrong side of 30.
But, he has still been a productive cornerback, especially in neutralizing top wideouts, as teams didn’t throw his way much in 2024.
The cornerback market has been fully reset by recent rookie extensions, but Lattimore shouldn’t touch that top category at this stage in his career. Instead, he could profile closer to the following deals if extended.
A good comparison could be Charvarius Ward’s three-year, $54 million deal with the Indianapolis Colts. Ward was 29 when signing that deal this offseason and was coming off a down year, but had played at a high level previously and was in demand as a No. 1 cornerback. As a part of that deal, Ward got $34.98 million in total guarantees.
A similar deal was Carlton Davis’ three-year, $54 million contract with the New England Patriots this offseason that included $34.5 million in guarantees. While maybe not as good a player, Davis had the benefit of being one year younger, earning a strong deal nonetheless.
D.J. Reed also got a three-year, $48 million deal this offseason with $32 million guaranteed at age 27, which could be the baseline for Lattimore.
Projecting a new deal for Marshon Lattimore
If Lattimore were to get a new contract, he’d likely get his current deal reworked to include guaranteed money. So, it wouldn’t be a surprise if much of the money remained the same, with him currently making $36.5 million over the next two years.
When looking to keep players as cornerstone pieces, the Commanders have restructured deals to include guaranteed money, like they did with Deebo Samuel this offseason. That could be the case with Lattimore, which could also open some flexibility from the team side.
So, keeping the two-year deal structure makes sense, while Lattimore could see a year getting guaranteed, and the Commanders would likely convert some of his base salary into a signing bonus. Adding a non-guaranteed third year on the back end could align it with the Ward, Davis, and Reed deals.
Prediction: 2 year, $36.5 million, $22 million guaranteed
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