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Veteran cornerback linked to Chicago Bears as potential NFL trade deadline target

Originally posted on Chicago Bears on SI | By Bryan Perez | Last updated Oct 29, 2025 9:24 PM ET

It's difficult to predict what the Chicago Bears will do at the 2025 NFL trade deadline. If they defeat the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9, GM Ryan Poles could very easily become a buyer.

If they lose to a team that's trending to be quarterbacked by Jake Browning, the Bears could easily become sellers.

The trade deadline is two days after Week 9 concludes -- Tuesday, November 4. The Bears will either be 5-3 and very much in the hunt, or 4-4 and losing steam fast.

Until then, the speculation about who the Bears could target in a trade-deadline deal is very much alive.

ESPN recently published a 2025 trade deadline primer and listed an interesting option for Chicago to target, especially for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, who's dealing with a mash unit at cornerback.

"Commanders cornerback Marshon Lattimore," ESPN's Ben Solak wrote. "This would be back-to-back trade deadline relocations for Lattimore, who picked off Patrick Mahomes on Monday but has struggled since Washington acquired him. He would return to Dennis Allen's defense, where the absence of Jaylon Johnson leaves the outside cornerback position unsettled for the Bears. Lattimore isn't the player he once was but probably would still beat out Tyrique Stevenson for snaps."

I'm not sure Lattimore would be competing with Stevenson for snaps. Johnson isn't coming back anytime soon. Instead, it would be more about combining Lattimore with Stevenson until Johnson is healthy enough to return. And if that return occurs in 2025? The Bears will have an overflow of veteran talent at the position.

But Solak is also right about this: Lattimore is not the same guy he once was. And he won't come cheap (financially).

Lattimore is on the books for $18 million in 2025. He's due $18.5 million in 2026. He has no dead cap figure next season, making whatever team trades for him essentially renting him for a playoff run.

Lattimore is entering Week 9 with a 52.8 grade from Pro Football Focus, which ranks 22nd on the Commanders' defense. His 51.6 coverage grade this season is the lowest of his career.

Indeed, Marshon Lattimore had his best game of 2025 in Week 8 against the Chiefs, when he scored an 89.0 from PFF, including an elite 90.0 coverage grade.

At 29 years old, Lattimore has enough juice in his legs for at least an above-average level of play. And if the Bears' medical staff is pessimistic on how soon (or if) the team's top corners will get back to full heatlh this year, the former Saints star under Dennis Allen could make sense.

This article first appeared on Chicago Bears on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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