Commanders must consider bold hometown reunion to jolt receiving corps

Terry McLaurin’s continued holdout and the overall uninspired performances from many of the Washington Commanders' other wide receivers make this a more pressing concern than it may have seemed earlier in the offseason.

A few months ago, general manager Adam Peters pulled the trigger on one major trade for Deebo Samuel Sr. He also brought back Noah Brown, signed Michael Gallup, and selected Jaylin Lane at No. 128 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Those players were supposed to team with McLaurin and 2024 draftee Luke McCaffrey to provide an explosive receiving corps for Jayden Daniels. With the regular season rapidly approaching, things have not gone according to plan.

McLaurin’s absence is the big story, but other issues have cropped up. Brown and Samuel did not play in Washington’s first preseason game. McCaffrey and Lane did, but did nothing to inspire confidence. A group of veteran receivers came up very small. A couple of rookies, far down the depth chart, looked very good.

Commanders should consider low-risk, high-reward trade for Rakim Jarrett

There’s another young player who may be available, and he would be a very intriguing option for the Commanders to consider. He isn’t a rookie. He is entering his third season in 2025. But he is still just 24 years old. And local fans know him pretty well.

His name is Rakim Jarrett.

Jarrett, who plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is a local product.  He was a star at St John’s College High School, where he was an All-American and The Washington Post's Offensive Player of the Year in 2019.

The five-star high school recruit spurned offers from national powers to play for his hometown Maryland Terrapins. Jarret’s college career had many highlights, but he never seemed to put together consistently dominant performances.

Despite obvious speed and receiving skills, concerns about his size led to him going undrafted in 2023. Tampa Bay signed him as an undrafted free agent, and he has been a rotational depth piece for them over the past two seasons.

The Buccaneers boast a very good group of receivers. Future Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Evans appears to be ageless. Chris Godwin returns from injury, and they just took Emeka Egbuka in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Jalen McMillian, who played a lot in the wake of Godwin’s injury last year, rounds out a very promising top four. Jarrett finds himself competing with speedster Trey Palmer and slot option Tez Johnson for a roster spot. The other two players are even younger and were drafted by the franchise.

The Commanders do not currently have a reliable slot option. Both Samuel and McLaurin have lined up in the slot in the past. They are versatile enough to excel from that position. But they can also line up outside, where they are more likely to face man-to-man coverage and have less trouble getting downfield.

McCaffrey has yet to show much out of the slot, and Lane is unproven. That applies to virtually every receiver on the team after McLaurin and Samuel.

Jarrett has caught just 13 balls in two years. He has been on the field for a total of 325 offensive snaps. But he has shown flashes of potential that could become something more.

The wideout has great body control and fine hands. Jarrett shows good concentration in contested ball situations. He had his best game last year against the Atlanta Falcons, bringing in all three of his fourth-quarter targets for 58 receiving yards and three first downs.

At 6-foot-0 and 192 pounds, Jarrett certainly isn’t tiny. But he does have relatively short arms and a limited wingspan. He has both straight-line speed and quickness, but doesn’t show the strength and leverage to separate from NFL corners. That’s why his best position would be in the slot, where he can use that suddenness to find openings.

As an undrafted free agent who is in danger of being released, Jarrett’s price tag would be minimal. The Buccaneers would probably be happy with a seventh-round pick, or perhaps a swap of Day 3 selections. Though he wouldn’t solve all of the Commanders’ issues, he would become arguably their best pure slot option immediately.

And the cherry on top? It would be a homecoming for a star who chose to play for his hometown college team when the choice was his to make.

The choice is out of his hands now. It somehow seems fitting that he gets a chance to build his NFL career in front of his hometown fans in Washington.

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