This is a disaster. There's no other way to say it.
The Washington Commanders are releasing cornerback Marshon Lattimore, clearing $18.5 million in cap space. The move comes just months after trading three 2025 draft picks to the New Orleans Saints to acquire the veteran corner.
Let me repeat that: They traded three draft picks for this guy, and now they're cutting him before the season even ends. That's one of the worst trades in recent NFL memory, and somebody in Washington needs to answer for it.
You don't give up three picks - valuable assets that could've been young, cheap talent - for a player you're going to release a few months later. Either the front office made a terrible evaluation, or something went really wrong behind the scenes. Either way, this is a bad look for Washington's decision-making.
Lattimore was supposed to be the missing piece. A four-time Pro Bowler, a lockdown corner who could shut down the opponent's best receiver. The Commanders thought they were one defensive back away from being a contender, so they went out and got him.
But it never worked. Lattimore battled injuries, struggled to fit into the defense, and never looked like the dominant player he was in New Orleans. The chemistry wasn't there. The production wasn't there. And now, he's gone.
"We made a calculated decision to bring Marshon in," a Commanders source told Heavy.com. "Unfortunately, it didn't work out the way we hoped. We're moving in a different direction."
Moving in a different direction? That's corporate speak for "We screwed up."
The $18.5 million in cap space will help, sure. The Commanders can use that money to rebuild the defense, maybe sign some free agents. But you know what else would've helped? Having three draft picks to develop young talent.
This is the kind of move that gets general managers fired. You can't trade valuable assets for a player and then cut him months later. That's not just a mistake - that's a catastrophic failure in evaluation and planning.
The Saints are laughing all the way to the draft. They dumped a player who didn't want to be there anymore, got three picks in return, and cleared cap space. Washington got a few months of mediocre play and a painful lesson in how not to run a football team.
Look, I get it - trades don't always work out. Sometimes a player doesn't fit the system. Sometimes injuries derail everything. But this? This was avoidable. The warning signs were there. The injury history was there. And the Commanders ignored it all because they were desperate to win now.
The 2025 draft is going to be painful for Washington fans. They'll watch other teams pick in spots where they should've been picking. They'll see young talent getting developed while their team is scrambling to fill holes. And they'll remember this Marshon Lattimore trade as one of the worst decisions in franchise history.
That's not what sports is all about, folks.
