The Kansas City Chiefs have already made a pair of moves ahead of the upcoming NFL trade deadline, but after suffering injuries at the cornerback position, could KC make a move for a former four-time Pro Bowler?
Matt Verderame and Gilberto Manzano of Sports Illustrated went around the league to pick “one trade every NFL team should make before the deadline,” arguing for the Chiefs to make a major move to acquire New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore:
Kansas City Chiefs: Trade second-round pick to Saints for CB Marshon Lattimore
This is an aggressive swing, but it also makes sense. The Saints are in cap hell and the Chiefs have a need at corner after Jaylen Watson broke his ankle. Additionally, Lattimore only has $1.2 million in base salary this year before his numbers spike in 2025 and ’26, making him affordable for cap-strapped Kansas City. And for the Saints, they would get a top-65 pick to help jumpstart a long-overdue rebuild.
This isn’t the first time the Chiefs have been connected to Lattimore in a theoretical trade, as Jordan Foote of Kansas City Chiefs On SI evaluated another Lattimore-to-KC trade on Wednesday. While Lattimore would solve a problem for Kansas City, I simply cannot imagine a reality in which the Chiefs send a second-round pick away for a 28-year-old Lattimore a handful of months after trading away 27-year-old L’Jarius Sneed for a third-rounder. While Sneed’s health and pending new contract were major factors in Kansas City’s decision to trade him, Lattimore missed a combined 17 games in 2022 and 2023 and carries a $31 million and $28.5 million cap hit in each of the next two seasons, with hefty dead cap hits for being cut.
The Chiefs certainly could have afforded to acquire former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Diontae Johnson and could look to bolster their cornerback position before the deadline, but I’m extraordinarily confident it wouldn’t be for the price of a second-round draft selection.
