WR Rumors: McLaurin, Parker, Harry

The 2019 draft was rife with wide receiver talent, and a few WRs from that class — the 49ers’ Deebo Samuel, the Titans’ A.J. Brown, the Seahawks’ D.K. Metcalf, and the Commanders’ Terry McLaurin — have been prominently featured in PFR pages in recent weeks. That is largely because those players are extension-eligible for the first time this offseason, and they have all done enough in their first three professional seasons to command massive multi-year extensions.

Samuel, Brown, and McLaurin have elected to sit out at least the on-field portion of their teams’ offseason programs in their pursuit of new contracts, though Samuel is the only member of that trio to request a trade at this point. McLaurin, who has career averages of 1,030 receiving yards per year and 13.9 yards per reception despite a less-than-ideal QB situation, has not been mentioned as a trade candidate, and Washington head coach Ron Rivera said in February that he hopes to hammer out a new contract for McLaurin sooner rather than later.

The Commanders’ OTAs begin on May 23, and the club wants McLaurin on the field no later than that in order to start building chemistry with new QB Carson Wentz. ESPN’s Dianna Russini hears from her sources that a deal will indeed get done.

Now for more WR news and notes:

• Shortly after the trade that sent DeVante Parker from the Dolphins to the Patriots, we heard that, while a number of other clubs were pursuing Parker, the 2015 first-rounder wanted to be dealt to New England. Albert Breer of SI.com confirms as much, and he passes along a quote from Parker himself. “I chose to get traded [to the Patriots],” Parker said. “My agent hit me up, just telling me what the situation was, and the options I had for the teams to go to. The first on my list was the Patriots. I’m just excited we were able to get everything done.” It is notable that the Dolphins not only allowed Parker a say in his next destination, but were willing to deal him to a division rival.
• N’Keal Harry, a less successful member of the above-referenced 2019 class of wide receivers, may have been on his way out of New England even before the Patriots acquired Parker, but the Parker trade seemed to definitively signal an end to Harry’s tenure in Foxborough. He remains on the roster for now, but Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes that the Arizona State product was not with the team for the start of the offseason program last week. Harry’s agent says his client is training away from the team facilities, and that he and the Patriots continue to have “positive dialogue” about a potential trade (Twitter link via Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network). 2022 will be a critical season for Harry, whose fifth-year option will almost certainly be declined and who will therefore be eligible for free agency next year.
• The Jets are said to be “all in” on Samuel, but the 49ers are reportedly not even entertaining trade offers at this time.
• Titans head coach Mike Vrabel has said Brown isn’t going anywhere, and it sounds as if Tennessee may have offered the 2020 Pro Bowler an extension with a $20MM AAV. Even if that’s the case, we do not know any of the more important details like guarantees and cash flow, and it sounds like there is still plenty of negotiating to be done before Brown puts pen to paper.