So this is now officially a mess, and the utopia that has been the Josh Harris-Adam Peters-Dan Quinn Washington Commanders is facing unflattering scrutiny for the first time. Terry McLaurin — ace receiver, model citizen — has requested a trade. Think back to January, when McLaurin was such a star in the Commanders’ romp through the NFC playoffs. The player who produced such a combination of athletic achievement and pure joy would end up in a pay-me-or-trade-me spat? Unfathomable.
But let’s exhale, and deal with the following reality: The Commanders aren’t going to trade their best receiver. They’re going to pay him. Not what he wants, apparently, because if they did, he would be in a helmet and pads at training camp rather than emerging only to sign autographs after practice. They’ll either pay him what remains on his current contract or give him the extension he’s seeking at a price more to their liking. The bet here remains on the latter.
End of carousel
Which doesn’t mean this is easy. If McLaurin is adamant that his new deal be worth “considerably more” than what Pittsburgh gave DK Metcalf — as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported — then the impasse likely will push toward the Sept. 7 season opener. Metcalf’s four-year, $132 million deal, which includes just $60 million in guaranteed money, makes him the fourth-highest paid receiver in the NFL based on average annual value.
Would “considerably more” be an AAV of $34 or $35 million? Because that would put McLaurin either tied with or ahead of Dallas’s CeeDee Lamb as the third-highest paid wideout in the league. As productive and patient as McLaurin has been, no one’s rankings of NFL receivers goes “1. Ja’Marr Chase; 2. Justin Jefferson; 3. Terry McLaurin.” Even McLaurin, coming off his fifth straight 1,000-yard season with a career-high 13 touchdowns, has to concede that much.
So the trade request feels like a threat from a disgruntled player. Really, given that he already tried holding out of training camp and now is there but not practicing, it’s the only bit of leverage McLaurin has. And it’s not much.
Take a potential trade off the table for the following reason: What team is going to give up a package of picks and/or players that would satisfy the Commanders — who are clearly in win-now mode — and then provide McLaurin a contract the rest of the league would consider an overpay? That ain’t happening.
McLaurin’s remaining leverage, then, would be to blame the “ankle injury” he’s currently using as an excuse not to practice — he’s on the physically unable to perform list — to miss games with pay once the season begins. What would his endgame be there? Receive the $15.5 million he’s due this year and potentially go to free agency as a soon-to-be 31-year-old who morphed from team-first leader to selfish problem child who hasn’t caught a pass in more than a year? Good luck with that.
What most likely will happen: McLaurin will accept a deal that isn’t what he sought but still makes him a very rich man and properly rewards him for his position in the locker room, with the franchise and in the league, and we’ll turn back to how he’ll work with quarterback Jayden Daniels and some new toys in the dynamic offense of coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.
About that part: It’s important that McLaurin’s squabble didn’t come during Daniels’s rookie season. A year ago, the quarterback and his top receiver needed as many reps as possible during training camp. Now, they have a full season as a body of work together. The familiarity and chemistry is there.
But don’t take that to mean McLaurin missing the first week-and-a-half, or more, of camp is unimportant. It matters. Daniels hasn’t seen how defenses react when they have to cover McLaurin on the outside along with new addition Deebo Samuel from the slot. If the first time he has his full arsenal is, say, the week entering the opener against the New York Giants — well, that’s a problem. Plus, a full season together isn’t seven or eight seasons together. Daniels and McLaurin aren’t exactly Joe Montana and Jerry Rice or Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison. More reps together — with all the new pieces in the offense — would help.
What stinks most about all this, though, is the effect on the vibe around the Commanders. Harris’s ownership has, to this point, been some combination of steady and exciting. Peters, Harris’s handpicked general manager, received high marks for overhauling a threadbare roster and building a contender on the fly. Quinn, the backward-hat coach, has provided leadership and empowerment to his players and his coaches. This confrontation with a universally respected player makes all that wobble — even slightly — for the first time.
But as adversarial as it is currently, it’s unlikely to make even a small blip in the locker room when and if McLaurin returns to practice. Players want their peers to get what they deserve, and they quickly become educated on the business side of the sport. McLaurin’s absence is real and impactful on the franchise’s preparation for its most highly anticipated season in a generation. But when he’s back at full-go, he’s not going to face a room full of side-eyed glances. The Commanders will smile broadly, welcome him back, and say, “Let’s go.”
Trade demand? It’s a ploy, that’s all. The franchise Terry McLaurin plays for this season will be the only franchise he has ever played for. That might not be for the terms he’s seeking, which is too bad for him. But it will be on terms with which the team is comfortable. Grown-ups now run the Commanders, and grown-ups are neither going to trade Terry McLaurin nor overpay him. It says here they will make a deal. What’s important is when, because the threat to this situation having an impact on the season is now real, and it gets worse every day.
