5 NFL Trades That Should Still Happen Before the 2024 NFL Season | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Houston Texans receive: CB Marshon Lattimore

New Orleans Saints receive: 2025 third-round pick

The New Orleans Saints are projected to be a league-high $73.7 million over the 2025 cap. If they want to get ahead on finding some much-needed relief, they have the option of trading Marshon Lattimore this offseason.

The star cornerback has a reasonable cap hit of $14.6 million in 2024, but that figure is set to rise to a whopping $31.4 million the following season and $28.6 million in 2026.

Trading away Lattimore is a far more realistic option for the Saints now that the club has some depth at cornerback. The club recently added a top-flight prospect in Kool-Aid McKinstry on Day 2 of the 2024 draft, a player who could be ready to start as early as this upcoming season.

McKinstry was widely regarded as one of the better defensive backs in the class, ranking No. 15 overall on the Bleacher Report Scouting Department's big board. Although he fell to No. 41, McKinstry still profiles as a quality starting cornerback in the NFL. The rookie could seamlessly replace Lattimore while making far less than his veteran counterpart in the same span.

If Lattimore is made available, expect the Houston Texans to come calling.

The Texans have spent the offseason loading up on veterans to make a deep run following last year's surprise trip to the Divisional round. After unearthing a franchise quarterback in C.J. Stroud, Houston's brass is clearly trying to maximize the team's Super Bowl chances by bringing in pricy pieces the team can only afford while Stroud is locked into a cheap rookie scale contract.

Even after adding a slew of proven talent like Stefon Diggs, Danielle Hunter, Denico Autry, Azeez Al-Shaair and Joe Mixon this offseason, Houston still has $23 million in 2024 cap space remaining and possesses nearly $46 million in projected 2025 cap room. That's more than enough to fit Lattimore's contract in while still leaving some wiggle room for further roster building.

While Lattimore has struggled with injuries in recent years—missing a total of 17 regular-season games since the 2022 campaign began—he was a Pro Bowler in four of his first five years and still has the talent to be a top-flight corner. Given Jalen Ramsey, one of the NFL's best corners of this generation, was flipped for a third-round pick last March, a similar Day 2 pick should be enough to get the Saints to move on from their longtime starter.

Lattimore makes for an ideal starter across from Derek Stingley Jr., giving Houston one of the best cornerback tandems in football while second-round rookie Kamari Lassiter gets brought up to speed.