NFL Insider Reveals Blockbuster Trade Deadline Deal that Nearly Happened
With all the hype leading into Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, there were likely many deals that were almost pulled off but fell apart at the 1-yard line. The biggest splash of the day came when the New Orleans Saints, who had fired their head coach just 24 hours prior, shipped four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore and a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Washington Commanders in exchange for a third-, fourth- and sixth-round pick in 2025.
Lattimore was an all-in move by Commanders general manager Adam Peters, who surprisingly has 7-2 Washington occupying first place in its division and sitting as the No. 2 seed in the NFC. But according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, he believed Lattimore was heading to another team until the final hour of the trade deadline. During a Wednesday appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Pelissero admitted Lattimore was a part of the biggest deal that almost happened but didn’t.
“Credit to (GM) Mickey (Loomis) for stirring up a market,” Pelissero said. “They had four different teams – I thought it was getting done to the Chiefs, that they were going to make another splash. … In the end, it’s the Commanders, who were a year ago the big story at the trade deadline because they traded everybody.
“…For them be the team that really came out of nowhere in the last hour before that trade got done…I did not think until the final 20 minutes or so that he was going to Washington.”
Multiple reported indicated the Chiefs were pushing hard to find another top cornerback to pair with Trent McDuffie after jettisoning La’Jarius Sneed to the Tennessee Titans in the offseason. Though Kansas City has the No. 5 defense in the NFL, its passing defense ranks 15th. The Chiefs’ secondary ranks 16th in passer rating against (90.3), 17th in completion percentage allowed (65) and 21st in interceptions (five).
While the Chiefs are the current favorites to win Super Bowl LIX and become the first team in NFL history to three-peat, shoring up their pass defense would have likely gone a long way toward increasing those odds.
