Ravens Shouldn't Trade For Terry McLaurin

The Baltimore Ravens and the rest of the NFL world are reacting to Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin requesting a trade after extension talks have stalled between him and the front office.

McLaurin is one of the league's best receivers and he wouldn't have to move far if traded to the Ravens. He would be a great player to insert in any offense in the league, especially one where Lamar Jackson is the quarterback.

However, the Ravens should sit themselves out of the McLaurin sweepstakes.

The Ravens used to be a team listed as a candidate to trade for any top receiver when there was speculation of a departure, but the team isn't what it used to be.

The main reason behind the Ravens not being the ideal team for McLaurin is money. McLaurin is wanting to sign an extension where he makes over $30 million per season. However, he's turning 30 years old next month and the Ravens have already signed Rashod Bateman to an extension.

On top of that, the Ravens need to save up some cap space to prepare for Zay Flowers needing an extension soon. Signing McLaurin to that extension instead wouldn't help that cause.

The way to avoid that situation is if the Ravens traded Flowers, but they shouldn't want to trade their third-year potential superstar, who's five years younger than McLaurin and has yet to reach his prime.

There's a good chance McLaurin is using this as leverage to try and get him the contract he wants. The Commanders shouldn't want to trade him, otherwise they may have done so by now. They also likely would have taken a wide receiver earlier in the NFL Draft.

McLaurin's request should prompt phone calls to be made to the Commanders in the coming days, but one won't come from the Ravens and he might not even leave the DMV.