Terry McLaurin still a potential trade target for the Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens have been connected to some pretty high-profile trade targets over the course of the offseason, but as we sit here in mid-June, the team has yet to make a trade for a notable player.

They’ve been on the other end of said high-profile trades, however, with their draft-day decision to send Marquise Brown to the Arizona Cardinals immediately springing to mind.

Brown’s departure left a gaping hole in the wide receiver room — one the Ravens surprisingly didn’t fill in the 2022 NFL Draft. And that brings us to the subject of this article: Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin.

Yes, there are many potential obstacles to a hypothetical McLaurin trade, but with the standout wide receiver not expected to attend his team’s mandatory minicamp, trade rumors have once again surfaced.

Don’t rule out a potential Ravens trade for Terry McLaurin

A third-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, McLaurin has developed into one of the better receivers in football with over 3,000 yards and 16 touchdowns over the first three years of his career despite some less-than-stellar QB play.

At just 26-years-old, McLaurin is looking for his first big-money extension, especially as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. If reports are to be believed, the two sides remain “far apart” on extension talks.

Now, Washington obviously doesn’t want to trade McLaurin, and it remains somewhat of a longshot that they actually do. But if he is indeed on the market, the Ravens should be one of the first teams to come calling.

No position on the Ravens’ roster is more unproven than wide receiver. Rashod Bateman, Devin Duvernay, and James Proche — the team’s top three projected receivers — have a combined 116 career catches to their names.

There’s no doubt that the Ravens could really use another receiver, especially one as talented as McLaurin. That wouldn’t be the issue here.

The potential obstacles would be twofold. How much are the Ravens willing to give up for McLaurin, and how much would they be willing to pay him? This is an especially pertinent question following the Hollywood Brown trade.

On top of that, would McLaurin even be willing to come to the Ravens? Greg Roman’s system has come under fire in recent days (and recent months/years), and while the veteran coordinator might get a bit more hate than he deserves, there’s no question that his scheme isn’t exactly receiver-friendly.

McLaurin controls his destiny with the ability to turn down any extension offers if he were to be traded. If he didn’t want to be traded to the Ravens, there wouldn’t be much either team could do about it.

The obstacles are obvious, but Terry McLaurin does still remain a realistic (if not somewhat pipedream-y) trade target for the Ravens. I wouldn’t get your hopes up, though.