Columnist proposes solution to Commanders, Terry McLaurin contract standoff

As of Wednesday morning, there was no indication that the Washington Commanders were close to working things out with Terry McLaurin after the 29-year-old wide receiver in the final year of his current contract requested a trade. 

For an article published on Wednesday, senior columnist David Aldridge of The Athletic proposed a solution that could result in McLaurin becoming a full participant in training-camp practices as soon as possible.

"Washington has about $17.1M in cap space available after its first 51 players are under contract — that includes McLaurin, who will make $15.5M in base salary this season," Aldridge wrote. "Can’t the Commanders use some of that space now, bump up McLaurin’s base salary for this season by $3M or $4M, then fully guarantee his 2026 salary at, say, $27M or $28M? That’s probably more than they want to give, but it would at least get McLaurin a little more than $30M or so in guaranteed money over the next calendar year."

A Tuesday report indicated that McLaurin is looking for "parts" of the five-year, $150M deal that the Pittsburgh Steelers gave DK Metcalf earlier this year. It's unclear if McLaurin would accept an offer similar to the one suggested by Aldridge. 

Understandably, numerous analysts have mentioned that a Commanders team coming off a trip to last season's NFC Championship Game should want to pay McLaurin after he recorded team highs of 82 receptions, 1,096 receiving yards and 13 touchdown catches while sharing an offense with quarterback and reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels. 

Aldridge expanded on why Washington should be in a rush to get McLaurin back to working with other members of the offense as the club prepares for its preseason opener at the New England Patriots on Friday evening. 

"McLaurin has yet to get on the field with (dual-threat offensive weapon) Deebo Samuel or (left tackle) Laremy Tunsil, key offensive newcomers," Aldridge added. "A tackle with Tunsil’s versatility can be a lead puller for McLaurin on reverses or can get out in space to help him on screens. Receivers work in tandem on pass patterns; you have to know exactly where your teammates are going to cut, how they like to come out of their patterns, how and when to cut off of their blocks on tunnel screens and the like."

Trading McLaurin for future draft assets this summer makes no sense for a Washington side that continues to be listed sixth among the betting favorites at +1800 odds to win Super Bowl LX by DraftKings Sportsbook. 

Getting a deal done with McLaurin before the situation turns ugly should only benefit the Commanders as it pertains to pursuing a championship and showing younger players that they will eventually be rewarded for positive on-the-field contributions.