After spending the offseason lobbying for a new contract, Terry McLaurin wants out of Washington. The Commanders wide receiver, who’s entering his age-30 season with just one year remaining on his contract, requested a trade Thursday, according to an ESPN report. The news wasn’t a surprise. McLaurin has publicly voiced his frustration since ending a four-day holdout and arriving at Commanders training camp last weekend, even telling reporters recently that “without any progressive discussions, it’s kind of hard to see how I step on the field.”
It’s not hard to find the point of contention between the two sides. McLaurin has watched multiple receivers ink deals worth over $30 million in average annual salary in the three years since he signed a $68 million contract extension that pays him a yearly average of $22.8 million. At the time, it was a top-of-the-market deal, but now in 2025, McLaurin ranks outside the top 15 in terms of average annual value—and behind receivers like Michael Pittman Jr. and Calvin Ridley, who haven’t been nearly as productive.
Looking at this stalemate from Washington’s perspective, you could see how the receivers who have set the market for top-end receiver contracts in recent years (and are likely setting the bar for McLaurin’s demands) are all two or three years younger than the Commanders wideout. McLaurin will turn 30 in September, and we don’t typically see NFL teams commit long-term money to receivers in their 30s. The Dolphins didn’t add any new years to Tyreek Hill’s contract when they reworked it in 2024, his age-30 season—they just increased his salary, paying him $90 million over the remaining three years on his deal—a move that Miami is probably regretting after a down year for Hill on the field. League precedent isn’t on McLaurin’s side here, and even if Washington does end up honoring his trade request, it could be challenging to find a trade partner that’s willing to give him the contract he’s seeking.
Still, this feels like a fuck around and find out situation for Washington. We can debate McLaurin’s standing in the NFL’s receiver hierarchy or whether it’s wise to commit long term to a 30-something receiver, but McLaurin’s importance to the Commanders and the continued development of star quarterback Jayden Daniels cannot be debated. Washington has built its roster to win now—making big trades in the offseason for veteran receiver Deebo Samuel and left tackle Laremy Tunsil—and it’s hard to imagine the Commanders being a real contender without McLaurin in burgundy and gold this fall. In a vacuum, playing hardball with McLaurin may be the prudent thing to do. In reality, Washington can’t afford to let him walk out the door.
But if the Commanders are willing to trade McLaurin, they should have plenty of suitors. When a star player demands a trade, we typically compile a list of teams that should be interested. In this case, it would be more efficient to list the teams that wouldn’t. That short list includes the Bengals, Eagles, Texans, Dolphins, and Cowboys. Just about every other team should be desperately scrounging up the requisite draft capital and figuring out how to clear some cap room to swing a deal for McLaurin.
He may not be viewed as a high-end WR1 in the same realm as Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase, but McLaurin provides similar value to his team. As one of the league’s best vertical-route runners and contested-catch specialists, McLaurin is a real pain in the ass for defenses when he’s lined up on the perimeter. In 2024, he led the NFL in EPA generated off “go” routes run from a wide alignment, per TruMedia. Over the last three seasons, he ranked third by the same metric, behind only A.J. Brown and George Pickens and just ahead of Hill. On top of that, he led the NFL in contested catches (24) and contested touchdowns (nine) in 2024, per Pro Football Focus. McLaurin is a member of the elite club of receivers who command safety help at all times. Single coverage is not a viable option.
It can’t be overstated how dependent Washington’s offense was on McLaurin’s particular set of skills last season. Outside of Daniels’s legs, McLaurin’s go routes were the unit’s only consistent source of explosive plays, as Amazon Prime Video’s Sam Schwartzstein laid out.
With modern defenses doing everything in their power to limit explosive plays, a player like McLaurin can be a unique asset. That was especially true for Washington’s offense. When the Commanders weren’t chucking up go balls to McLaurin, the offense was efficient but not dynamic. Last season, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury eased Daniels into the pros with a steady diet of run-pass options, designed QB runs, and screen passes. Kingsbury’s play calling and Daniels’s mobility and precision on short throws provided a high floor for the Commanders offense. It was McLaurin’s ability to win on deep balls that raised its ceiling and helped Washington finish near the top of the league in points scored and EPA. McLaurin also played a direct role in many of Washington’s dramatic wins throughout the 2024 season, including Daniels’s breakout game against the Bengals on Monday Night Football, when the receiver caught four passes for 100 yards, including this 55-yard touchdown:
Because of all those close calls that went Washington’s way, the team’s historical success on fourth down, and stats like this …
… the Commanders have been viewed as a top regression candidate for the 2025 season after their surprising run to the NFC championship game. The team is hoping its offseason additions and a second-year leap by Daniels could be enough to offset any regression, but without McLaurin in the fold it’s difficult to see that happening. With a roster full of aging vets surrounding a young quarterback who’s presumably two years away from signing a top-of-the-market deal, Washington is undoubtedly in win-now mode, which puts tremendous pressure on the front office to reconcile things with McLaurin and ensure that he’s on the roster in 2025.
It’s not often that an almost 30-year-old receiver who’s not seen as a superstar has this sort of leverage. But the Commanders need McLaurin more than McLaurin needs the Commanders. There is an easy solution to this problem: Pay the man and worry about the long-term ramifications later. That’s how Washington’s front office, led by general manager Adam Peters, has operated when acquiring other talent in recent offseasons. Their approach to retaining talent—especially one as integral to the team’s success as McLaurin was in 2024—shouldn’t be any different.
