Commanders Should Trade For Carolina Panthers CB Jaycee Horn

The Washington Commanders thought they had a cornerback to build their secondary around when they drafted Emmanuel Forbes Jr. in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.

By almost any metric, Forbes has been one of the NFL’s worst cornerbacks almost every time he’s stepped on the field in the almost 2 years since — a player who teams might not even be willing to surrender a sixth or seventh round draft pick for in a trade.

Even in a season when the Commanders have become one of the NFL’s top storylines and sit at 5-2 and in first place in the NFC East Division headed into Week 8, cornerback has continued to be a problem — Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder listed the position as the Commanders’ biggest weakness at the midway point of the season.

“Washington could use cornerback help now and the problem is only going to get worse in the offseason when Benjamin St-Juste, Noah Igbinonghene and Michael Davis hit free agency in the offseason,” Holder wrote.

If the Commanders want help now, they should consider making a move to trade for Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft and a player who has languished on the NFL’s worst team for the first part of his career.

SB Nation’s Mark Scholfield and James Dator listed Horn among their NFL players to watch ahead of the November 5 trade deadline.

“We’ll wait to see how much the Panthers blow up their roster at the deadline, but at the very least the team should entertain offers for star cornerback Jaycee Horn,” Scholfield and Dator wrote on October 23. “One of the best man-coverage CBs in football this season, Horn’s best attribute is that he doesn’t give up explosive plays, which is the foundation of passing in the NFL right now.”

What Trade Offer for Horn Might Look Like

There’s a trade from the NFL’s recent past that might give us some template as to what the Panthers might get back for Horn via trade.

When the Jacksonville Jaguars traded Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams, the Jaguars received 2 first round picks and a fourth round pick in exchange for what was the game’s top young cornerback at the time — and who was about midway through his fourth season, like horn.

Horn isn’t on the same level Ramsey was at that point in his career. More than his talent, injuries have defined Horn’s career to this point, as he missed more games (31) than he played (29) through his first 3 seasons, although in the one season he played more than half of his team’s games in 2022, he had 3 interceptions and 7 pass deflections.

A reasonable offer for Horn, at this point, would probably be a second or third round pick, straight up. Anything more than that might not be worth it for the Commanders.

Horn’s Father Was Standout NFL WR in Early 2000s

Longtime NFL fans will know Horn’s father — 4-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Joe Horn was one of the league’s top receivers in the early 2000s and played 12 seasons in the NFL, with 4 seasons of over 1,200 receiving yards with the New Orleans Saints.

Joe Horn is best known for one of the most famous touchdown celebrations of all time, when he hid a cell phone (a flip phone!) underneath one of the goal posts and pulled it out after scoring a touchdown against the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football.