Washington Commanders star receiver Terry McLaurin requested a trade last week, as months-long negotiations for his new contract remain incomplete.
McLaurin, who will turn 30 in September, is coming off his best campaign in 2024, where he played with NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year quarterback Jayden Daniels. The approaching 2025 season is the final year of the three-year deal McLaurin signed in 2022, which was worth $22.79 million annually and made him one of the top five-paid receivers in the league at the time. With receiver salaries skyrocketing since (McLaurin’s deal now ranks 18th at the position), he is seeking a new deal on par with the makings of the top receivers in the game.
McLaurin skipped minicamp in June and the start of training camp in July. He ended his training camp holdout and reported to the team on July 27, but was placed on the physically unable to perform list with an ankle injury.
The Commanders selected McLaurin in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and he has been a face of the franchise through losing seasons, league- and federal-led investigations into the team and its previous owners, name changes and a turnstile of quarterbacks since. He has led the team in receiving yards each year since his rookie season.
All indications to this point have been that the Commanders are not interested in trading McLaurin, but The Athletic’s beat writers offered a few proposals that could be coming Washington’s way from around the league.
New England Patriots
Patriots trade 2027 third-round pick for McLaurin
The Patriots are an obvious option when any player is on the trade block, considering the roster needs improving and they have the most cap space in the NFL. That said, a trade for McLaurin seems a bit unlikely for them. If this were before the draft, they probably would’ve been quite interested. But with Stefon Diggs now in the fold, if you add McLaurin, you risk boxing out third-round pick Kyle Williams, limiting his playing time and development. Additionally, a move for McLaurin, who turns 30 soon, might make more sense for a team with an open championship window. The Patriots are still rebuilding and might have better use for their ample cap space next offseason rather than chasing a 30-year-old receiver when they’re still a few years from seriously competing. — Chad Graff
San Francisco 49ers
49ers trade WR Brandon Aiyuk for McLaurin
It’s not so far-fetched considering this scenario was discussed a year ago when Aiyuk was the subject of a high-profile hold-in. Aiyuk had the Commanders at the top of possible trade destinations because of his relationship with, and admiration for, Jayden Daniels. The 49ers probably would have acquiesced to his request if McLaurin was part of a trade package, but the Commanders didn’t want to part with the receiver. A year later, would they reconsider? Now it’s McLaurin who’s causing a stir and whose feelings are hurt. While Aiyuk is coming off an Oct. 20 ACL tear and isn’t expected to be ready at the start of the season, he’s also two and a half years younger than McLaurin and has relationships throughout Commanders headquarters. He’s friends with the quarterback, he’s close to Deebo Samuel and he was drafted by GM Adam Peters, who was the 49ers’ top college scout at the time. Lengthy contract battles leave bridges burning. Wouldn’t both players be happier where there’s no smoke? — Matt Barrows
Brandon Aiyuk has a lot of ties to the Commanders, including a previously expressed desire to reunite with his former Arizona State teammate Jayden Daniels. (Steven Bisig / Imagn Images)
Los Angeles Chargers
Chargers trade 2026 fourth-round pick for McLaurin
The Chargers are still figuring out who is going to play on the outside alongside star slot Ladd McConkey in three-receiver packages. They have Quentin Johnston and two ascending rookies in Tre’ Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith, but that group is unproven. The Chargers signed Mike Williams as a veteran option in March. Williams, though, retired before training camp. McLaurin would check a number of boxes for the Chargers offense. He played more than 83 percent of his snaps on the outside for Washington in 2024. He was elite in contested-catch situations, a skill the Chargers are seeking. The Chargers have the cap space to take on McLaurin’s salary for this season. They are also projected to have the second-most cap space in the league in 2026, according to Over the Cap. Their top five receivers — McConkey, Johnston, Harris, Lambert-Smith and Derius Davis — are all on rookie deals. They could afford a more expensive veteran contract in this room from a cap perspective. The Chargers would have to do a deal with McLaurin after trading for him. Would he be open to something more short-term? A two-year extension at $30 million in AAV could make sense for both sides. — Daniel Popper
Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers trade 2026 third-round pick and WR Roman Wilson for McLaurin
If the Steelers want to give Aaron Rodgers the best chance to make a run in what could be his final season, the biggest bet they could make would be a dynamic receiving threat behind DK Metcalf. For more than a year, there have been questions surrounding the WR2 position. Right now, the team seems interested in seeing how two receivers on rookie contracts — Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson — fill that role. McLaurin would be an instant and massive upgrade, signaling the Steelers really are “all in” for Rodgers. The veteran WR also could help at the beginning of a rookie QB window on a short, two-year extension worth $30 million per year. At the same time, a move of this magnitude would also require some salary-cap gymnastics. Currently, the Steelers have an estimated $17.5 million in cap space, according to Over the Cap, but they like to keep at least $10 million for in-season moves in case of injury. There are ways to make the money work (signing bonuses, restructuring other contracts) and you never know how aggressive GM Omar Khan might be. — Mike DeFabo
Curtis Samuel caught 31 passes for 253 yards in 14 games (two starts) last season with Buffalo. (Gregory Fisher / Imagn Images)
Buffalo Bills
Bills trade WR Curtis Samuel and 2026 fifth-round pick for McLaurin
The Bills could certainly use a legitimate No. 1 receiver, but as of right now, only if the right situation arises. McLaurin is a perfect fit for Josh Allen, though McLaurin’s need for a new deal with a cap-strapped team casts some doubt on the pairing. If the Bills could move Samuel’s $6.9 million in guaranteed base salary, along with a Day 3 pick for someone like McLaurin, I could see them talking themselves into it. Samuel, at least, could give the Commanders a player they could start in the interim.
Considering McLaurin’s age and that the Bills would need to give him a new contract, that creates some leverage. The Bills could conceivably make room for a new deal on their cap with the excavated Samuel cap hit in 2025, using some previously untapped contract restructures, along with backloading McLaurin’s new deal since they can structure it however they want. However, the presence of Keon Coleman and Joshua Palmer, and wanting to see what they have in them for a year, may discourage the Bills from even getting involved.
None of these offers will sway the Commanders. They’d probably get a third-round compensatory pick if they let McLaurin walk as a free agent in March, so they’d want more than the Patriots’ offer.
Acquiring Aiyuk from San Francisco carries some intrigue, especially because he’s Daniels’ close friend and former teammate, and he has close ties to Peters and Samuel. Not to mention, Aiyuk is only 27. But he’s coming off a major knee injury, and has carried the workload of a No. 1 receiver for only two seasons.
The Chargers’ offer — nope.
The Steelers — if the Commanders believed they were still a year or two out from contending, maybe this would be interesting. But then again, they already have a young, speedy slot receiver in fourth-round rookie Jaylin Lane.
And the Bills? Washington knows better than most teams what Curtis Samuel can do when healthy, but it also knows his injury history and that he’s never started a full season in his career.
So, the Commanders will keep McLaurin. They can’t take away their star quarterback’s go-to receiver in a year when they’ve clearly gone all in to try to compete with the Eagles. They don’t have much depth at receiver; Deebo Samuel isn’t a true No. 2 in workload, let alone a No. 1, and the only other proven receiver on the roster is Noah Brown, who is quite good but has a lengthy injury history.
Yet, the Commanders also know they have much more leverage than McLaurin in his contract dispute; he’ll be 30 in September, which means he’ll be 31 in the first season of an extension. It also means that holding out regular-season games could be career-ending. So, a deal will get done. There’s still time. — Nicki Jhabvala
(Top photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
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