Terry McLaurin, Commanders trade rumors
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A trade for a "legit vertical threat" would help the Washington Commanders' plan to free go-to wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
The common consensus about the Washington Commanders’ wide receivers is the group is missing a star name, a Stefon Diggs, Brandon Aiyuk or Keenan Allen, but there’s a more interesting option hiding in plain sight. A trade target who would help new offensive coordinator David Blough’s plan to get go-to wideout Terry McLaurin more targets, all for the cost of a late-round pick in the 2027 NFL draft.
Flipping a fifth or sixth-rounder for Diggs’ former New England Patriots teammate Kayshon Boutte makes sense for the Commanders on a number of levels. The best reasons to bring in Boutte are supported by key statistics cited by “Locked on Commanders” podcast host David Harrison.
He pointed out Boutte “averaged 16.7 yards per reception in 2025. He’s caught 71 percent of the go route balls thrown to him while 30 percent of his targets have come on go routes, according to Yahoo! Sports.”
Harrison wisely views Boutte’s established track record as a field-stretching playmaker as being key to Blough’s move plan for McLaurin, but the Commanders may already have enough alternative deep threats on the depth chart.
Kayshon Boutte Trade Would Unlock Terry McLaurin Plan
There are good reasons Boutte continues to be named a trade fit for the Commanders. Those reasons extend beyond his time playing alongside Washington’s QB1 Jayden Daniels at LSU in 2022.
A rapport with Daniels would help Boutte make a quick transition to life with the Burgundy and Gold, but McLaurin would benefit most from the trade. ‘Scary Terry’ would profit by yielding the area of the field where Boutte most often lines up.
Harrison explained how Blough “wants to get Terry 10 targets a game. And you’re not going to do that just lining him up on the left outside hash or a margin of the field boundary of the field. You got to be able to move Terry McLaurin around. Kayshon Boutte could potentially help do that in a way that’s a little bit different than some of the other guys we’ve talked about. Boutte has spent 49 percent of his total snaps in New England. That’s ’23, ’24, ’25 total snaps, 49 percent of his total snaps in New England aligned wide left and 56.7 percent of his wide aligned so non-slots, non-reduced snaps have come on the left side.”
Kayshon Boutte, Commanders trade rumors
GettyBoutte’s history of living and winning on the perimeter would help McLaurin and the Commanders.
The numbers show Boutte spends the majority of his time aligned outside the numbers. It’s where McLaurin has usually feasted, particularly in the schemes of Blough’s predecessor Kliff Kingsbury, who treated the Commanders’ No. 1 receiver as a fairly predictable, straight-line vertical burner.
Blough has something more creative in mind for McLaurin, who played a mere 56 snaps in the slot last season, to go with a motion rate of just 2.6 percent, per Player Profiler.
Getting the chance to move around more often is why McLaurin is predicted to enjoy a banner campaign on Blough’s watch, but the Commanders won’t want to lose the ability for Daniels to take the top off coverage with one throw.
Retaining that capability is why a trade for Boutte makes sense, but the Commanders are arguably already well stocked with big-play burners.
Commanders Not Lacking Vertical Threats
Blough can already feel comfortable about moving McLaurin off the perimeter, thanks to a couple of veteran arrivals. The Commanders’ decision to reunite with Dyami Brown and sign Van Jefferson in free agency put a pair of proven vertical threats into the mix among Daniels’ receivers.
Brown became a sneaky clutch target for Daniels during 2024’s Cinderella run to the NFC Championship Game. Plays like this deep ball against the New York Jets showed Daniels’ confidence targeting Brown on the outside.
For his career, Brown has averaged an impressive 13.9 yards average depth of target, according to Pro Football Reference, so he knows how to stretch coverage. Jefferson shares the same trait, having averaged 13.4 yards per reception through six seasons.
Both Jefferson and Brown have impressed head coach Dan Quinn this offseason, so maybe the Commanders are more confident about their wide receivers than most outside observers.
Perhaps the Commanders are confident enough to resist taking advantage of Boutte likely being open to a trade. He looks like the odd man out in New England after the Pats swung their own deal to acquire three-time Pro Bowler A.J. Brown, and also gave big money to free agent Romeo Doubs.
Those moves mean Boutte is potentially available at a fair price. Harrison detailed how “Current projections for a trade for Kayshon Boutte have him costing the Washington Commanders around a fifth or sixth-round draft pick, if they want to go after this type of a trade, considering he’s going to be a one-year rental. He’s on the last year of his rookie deal, or you’re going to be looking to give him a new deal. So teams don’t like to give up really good draft capital if they then also have to pay the player. So, that kind of you know, muddies the water a little bit for New England. For me, just based off of this information, just based off what we just talked about and the projections, I would probably offer New England a conditional 2027 sixth round pick. If he gets a new deal from Washington, then we can talk about it becoming a fifth.”
His price looks right, but Boutte isn’t superior enough to Brown and Jefferson to justify a trade. Nor is Boutte versatile enough to mix things up for Daniels the way natural slot receivers like Jaylin Lane and this year’s third-round pick Antonio Williams can.
The Commanders should only move for a receiver with a stronger track record. Somebody with a Pro Bowl pedigree and the skills to help Daniels in more ways than just giving McLaurin license to roam.