The Washington Commanders are in the best position the franchise has been in for decades, so naturally something was going to step in and try to derail it. Enter Terry McLaurin, their WR1, and the most important element of the offense next to Jayden Daniels.
Terry McLaurin demands trade: What we know and 3 teams that make sense
Could the Commanders WR1 be on the move?
Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
McLaurin is now demanding a trade after months of back-and-forth with the Commanders over a new contract has failed to result in a deal. Now entering the final year of a 3-year, $68M extension he signed in 2022, and on the cusp of turning 30, McLaurin is looking for more big payday before his decline. It’s an absolutely understandable move, especially for a guy who has routinely out-performed his contract.
The Commanders’ receiver has registered five straight 1,000 yard seasons, and is coming off a career-high 13 touchdowns in 2024 working with Daniels at QB, and Kliff Kingsbury as his offensive coordinator. McLaurin started his career underpaid as a third round pick — and while he got a decent sized extension in 2022, his $22.78M APY ranks 18th in the NFL, below clearly inferior receivers like Calvin Ridley and Tee Higgins.
It’s reported that McLaurin is looking for a bump that pays him in the $30M per-year range, which would put him in the Top 10 in WRs, with pay close to Tyreek Hill and Brandon Aiyuk — potentially upping that to the D.K. Metcalf and CeeDee Lamb range. Now, I don’t think anyone is saying McLaurin is the same caliber of gamebreaking receiver, but he has the Commanders over a barrel with this trade request.
The biggest thing for Washington right now is optics. There are long-suffering, success-starved fans who have finally seen their team turn the corner after being the cellar dwellers of the NFC East for so long. McLaurin’s camp knows that at this point the Commanders need him more than he needs them, because without their WR1 on that chart they’re leaning almost entirely on Deebo Samuel to pick up the slack — and that would be a significant backslide when they’re trying to take another step forward.
In the grand scheme of things bumping McLaurin’s pay to $32M or even $33M isn’t much for a team with $14M in cap space, a QB on a rookie contract, and the expectation the cap will jump even further in the future. This isn’t like T.J. Watt wanting to be the highest paid player at his position, but a reliable receiver with several good years left who just wants future security and a pay bump as a reward for his tenure.
Ultimately it feels like Washington will come to its senses and get a deal done. Lowballing a key player like this isn’t just bad business, it’s dumb. Let’s assume for a second that this goes badly and the Commanders end up shopping McLaurin. Which teams could (and should) be in on a trade?
Los Angeles Raiders
The Raiders are a team aspiring to do what the Commanders have managed. They want to get themselves out of the basement and into contention, with Pete Carrol being the architect of it all.
There’s a good chance they can pull this off with Geno Smith at QB and Ashton Jeanty under center, but right now the team is seriously lacking receivers to stretch the field. As it stands Las Vegas has Jakobi Meyers at their WR1, which is iffy at best — and then the talent drops off a cliff.
McLaurin would be a plug-and-play top receiver, and allow Meyers to become a high-tier WR2. The Raiders also have boatloads of projected cap space opening up, which makes an extension easy. If they’re looking to lock up a three or four year deal then it buys the team time to solidify their receiver room and win right now, which is the main goal.
Look, every time a WR hits the market we need to kick the tires on the Chiefs. The team has some serious cap issues coming up, though they should be able to ameliorate them with restructuring guys like Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones, who are franchise staples.
As it stands the Chiefs look a lot better on paper than last season with their receiver group, but Rashee Rice is unreliable off the field, and other than him the team doesn’t have a lot of surefire weapons on it.
If the Commanders dealt McLaurin (and it’s a big if) then sending him to the AFC would be preferable than the potential of facing him in the playoffs.
The Colts are hitting “put up or shut up” time in Shane Steichen’s tenure, so the pressure is on offensively to get something done. Talk out of Indy is that the team is bullish about the improvement Anthony Richardson has made this offseason, so now it’s about bolstering their weapons.
Indianapolis has a decent roster of receiver, but moving McLaurin to WR1, Michael Pittman Jr. to WR2 and playing Alec Pierce out of the slot would be a significant offensive boost. Cap space also helps here too, and they could easily absorb a contract for McLaurin.
See More:
