Marshon Lattimore makes bold Saints CB1 claim amid contract dispute

He's on a mission!

The New Orleans Saints faithful might have been at the edge of their seats after Marshon Lattimore appeared as a name in the trading block. After a season filled with stress and downfalls, Dennis Allen remained confident that his cornerback along with Alvin Kamara would be back for organized team activities. It appears that the four-time NFL Pro Bowl selection is here to stay after he got a restructured deal done with Mickey Loomis.

It was a huge question as to whether or not the Saints were keeping Marshon Lattimore. The rumors of his departure from Dennis Allen's system only got stronger when they picked Kool-Aid McKinstry in the NFL Draft. While their secondary got a lot more deeper, the Pro Bowl defensive menace made a lot of things clear during his latest appearance, via Mike Triplett of New Orleans Football.

“I'm number one, for sure. I'm number one. I want to prove that. I feel like I started last year like that, All-Pro type of season, to me. I'm just ready to be better than that, then what I was. And I'm working towards that. I'm just ready,” he declared.

Notably, Marshon Lattimore went down in the Saints' Week 10 battle with the Minnesota Vikings. His right ankle was in a lot of pain which made Dennis Allen and the rest of the staff move him to the IL. Eventually, he got ruled out for the rest of the season.

He only got to produce 48 combined tackles with 39 of them being solo takedowns. Not to mention, he also notched an interception in just a short span of time. This is a far cry from his usual NFL Pro Bowl production which usually gets him over 59+ combined. But, it was still an improvement from his 2022 stat line where he only had 29 takedowns.

Lattimore's situation with the Saints

Being on the chopping block after a restructure and a big injury is not at all pleasing to any player. But, Lattimore is one of the few exceptions to the rule. He noted how the Saints would see him stay. This was despite the rumored setbacks between him and the Mickey Loomis-led front office.

“I'm here. Do you know what I'm saying? I've got to be here, I've got to be present. I'm not thinking about whether I'm going to get traded or anything like that. I don't really care to be honest. I don't,” the elite cornerback declared.

He even outlined his desire to stay with the Saints to help them regain their lost glory in the NFL.

“We had a situation, a personal situation that we worked through. But it wasn't like I wanted to leave, or he wanted me to leave. Nothing like that. I don't know how you all looked at it, but it was just a situation that happened, personally. It wasn't anything like that, like I wanted to leave. I told him I didn't want to leave now,” Lattimore told the media.

Setbacks are going to be there for most players. The Saints might just be lucky that one of their greatest men loves the franchise. The elite cornerback does so to the point where he's staying.