A Pro Bowl Corner the Vikings Can Soon Sign
Generally speaking, Pro Bowl corners are hard to acquire. There’s nevertheless a shot at signing Marshon Lattimore.
Consider the update from ESPN’s Adam Schefter: “Commanders have informed former Pro-Bowl CB Marshon Lattimore that they intend to release him before the new league year begins, a move that will save the team $18.5 million in salary cap space, per sources.”
A Pro Bowl Corner (Possibly for Cheap)
Last year, the Vikings tipped their hand: the CB3 should be someone who has some muscle and size. Football is a matchup sport, so being able to throw a long-and-strong corner onto the field makes a lot of sense.
Opting for Jeff Okudah was the decision. The former No. 3 pick has oodles of talent and potential. Some combination of injury alongside underperformance kept him from fulfilling expectations, but Minnesota was wise to roll the dice. Seeing snake eyes means finding an excellent corner for cheap; failing to do so means moving onto the next option.
It’s now time to see about the next option.
Lattimore, in fairness, is in a different spot in his career.
Already, Mr. Lattimore has had a nice career. He got scooped up by the Saints at No. 11 in the 2017 NFL Draft. He quickly shined. Lattimore earned the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Across his career, Lattimore has been sent to the Pro Bowl four times.
Now, there’s reason to proceed with some caution. Not since 2021 has the corner played in sixteen games (let alone the new normal of seventeen games in a season). The past four seasons have involved seven games (2022), ten games (2023), nine games (2024), and nine games (2025). Lattimore’s recent track record says that the Vikings should proceed cautiously.
Presumably, the caution would get baked into the cost, or lack thereof. Look for modest money being sent in Lattimore’s direction. Few, if any, will be keen about sending over beefy compensation.
The Vikings have been grinding in recent days to get the budget sorted out. Within the moves has been the decision to restructure Byron Murphy’s contract. Doing so gives Minnesota’s cap a nice financial windfall ahead of free agency.
There’s then Isaiah Rodgers, the ultra fast CB2 who had a historically-great game in Week 3 when the Bengals left U.S. Bank bruised. He’s a solid player.
What would make a difference is the corner with size to handle the NFC’s bully receivers. Think Christian Watson over in Green Bay, Rome Odunze over in Chicago, Drake London over in Atlanta, A.J. Brown over in Philadelphia, and so on.
Football, a matchup sport, becomes easier when a coach has the players necessary to matchup.
Marshon Lattimore is a foe who could turn into a friend. He stands at 6’0″ and 192 pounds.
The Pro Bowl corner is 29.
