When the Washington Commanders seemed to be headed for a stunning trade of top wide receiver Terry McLaurin one year after reaching the NFC Championship game, one of the few teams that constantly came up in hypothetical landing spots was the upstart New England Patriots.
Not only are the Patriots still in the process of scooping up talent as they try to build around young quarterback Drake Maye, but they also have the financial flexibility and need at the wide receiver position to warrant giving up some prized assets for one of the best veteran pass-catchers in the NFC.
Those dreams were instantly torched on Monday afternoon, as McLaurin agreed to terms with Washington on a three-year, $96 million contract extension that will keep him in town for the duration of Jayden Daniels' rookie contract.
While this move isn't necessarily crushing due to all of the moving parts that would have needed to be accounted for in any sort of trade, the fact that New England had to watch their best chance for a high-end upgrade to the receiver room go up in smoke like this has to sting to some degree.
Patriots miss out on Terry McLaurin after inking extension with Commanders
McLaurin's 82 catches and 1,096 yards are right about in line with the numbers he has had in past seasons, but after tallying more than five touchdown receptions in just one of his five prior seasons, McLaurin snagged a career-best 13 touchdowns from Daniels in the 2024 season.
Having already paid Stefon Diggs a big chunk of change to reinvent the scope of this passing game, it stands to reason that pairing him with McLaurin for years to come may have been the perfect combination of underneath separation and downfield playmaking for Maye to work with.
New England will be forced to roll into 2025 with a below-average room outside of Diggs. While DeMario Douglas is still hanging around, and third-round rookie Kyle Williams has stood out as one of the best young players on this roster, there is next to no proven receiving skill in this room outside of a veteran coming off a major injury in Diggs.
The Patriots have shown that they are more willing to spend tons of money to bring in top external talent than they were in past seasons, but they weren't aggressive enough to land McLaurin before Washington snatched him up for the foreseeable future.