I’ll start with what’s obvious: The Commanders’ offense looks very different without its top wideout. I had them 13th in earlier this offseason, but that was with McLaurin as their most valuable option. Daniels posted a of 73.8 with him on the field last season, but that fell to 63.0 across 90 dropbacks without him.
Taking McLaurin out of the lineup pushes into the top wideout role, and while Samuel can be overwhelming at his best, he has struggled with inconsistent play, drops and injuries during his career. and , who was in 2024, would be competing for more work on the outside. Young draftees such as and ro would go from being depth players to potential starters. The entire wide receiver rotation would be stretched about one spot too far in the lineup, which makes sense; the Commanders built this team expecting McLaurin to be the No. 1.
Most Commanders fans want this to be resolved as quickly as possible with a new deal for McLaurin. But other teams across the league might want to get a shot at landing one of the league’s best wideouts. How will all of this play out? Why is there such an impasse? What can the Commanders do to bridge that gap? And if they do decide that there’s no solution, what would a trade look like? Let’s hit those topics and break down the McLaurin situation.
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