NFL insider maps out what it might cost for Patriots to trade for Terry McLaurin
"You’d be talking about a pretty high price from a draft pick standpoint, and I think you probably would have to include an active player, too.”
Trading for Terry McLaurin would give a Patriots roster once short on playmakers one of the more dynamic wideout groupings in the NFL.
But it won’t come cheap.
Even though the All-Pro receiver has requested a trade from the Commanders, Washington will likely demand a king’s ransom for any team wanting to take the disgruntled star off their hands.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer acknowledged last month that the Patriots would be “very interested” in acquiring McLaurin and establishing him as one of Drake Maye’s go-to receiving targets.
But during Friday’s taping of “Early Edition” of NBC Sports Boston, Breer acknowledged that the Commanders would want multiple assets in return for McLaurin.
“For somebody to give the Commanders something that would entice them to move, that team would have to value [McLaurin] at a level financially higher than the Commanders do, and then on top of that be willing to give him that contract and put draft capital into it,” Breer said on Friday.
“So you’d be talking about a pretty high price from a draft pick standpoint, and I think you probably would have to include an active player, too.”
In terms of a potential package for McLaurin that New England could assemble, Breer said that Stefon Diggs could be a player that the Commanders might covet — considering that Washington still wants to have a star wideout in place to pair with a second-year QB in Jayden Daniels.
“One thought I did have, and this is just — I don’t want to see a ‘report’ on this or anything else — but if you were the Patriots, would you consider trading Stefon Diggs and a second-round pick there?” Breer said.
“If you look at the idea of that, Stefon Diggs is from DC, right? So that would be a homecoming for him. And it would give the Commanders some more financial flexibility with the contract that Stef has. It would give them the extra piece of draft capital. And then the Patriots would have a receiver that you can build around for the next few years.”
Even if the Patriots were willing to pay such a steep price for McLaurin, Breer believes that the Commanders will ultimately keep their top wideout in place — especially after the veteran played such a key role in Washington’s run to the NFC Championship Game this past season.
“I think it’s important to remember this is a team that feels like it’s in a championship window right now,” Breer said. “And if you’re in a championship window right now, you don’t want to be trading one of your very best players and one of the guys you’ve built an entire program around for an asset that’s not going to give you any help until next April.”
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