Terry McLaurin’s holdout from the Commanders Mandatory workout, was the focus of Tuesday’s “Take Command” on 106.7 The Fan with Logan Paulsen, Craig Hoffman and John Keim.
Here are several excerpts of the substantive dialog.
JK: First of all, he is not coming. I will be shocked if he does show up because something would have to dramatically change for that to happen. The significance is I think it is indicative of where the negotiations are right now.
LP: “What is the advantage of him missing minicamp? Is he getting something out of not coming that maybe I never understood or the fans don’t understand? I never understood the benefit of him not coming.”
JK: “It certainly lets the fan base know where things are. The fan base wants this guy back. The fan base will revolt. Is this available leverage for Terry’s side to say, ‘Listen, ‘One of the advantages we have is your importance to this team and the fan base’.”
JK: You know, Terry McLaurin is a different guy. He believes in being a leader. He understands his importance and what he means to the team. He is not arrogant about it. But he knows, he understands it.”
JK: “I think from a PR standpoint with all the things going on with this franchise, you need to get something done because of his importance to what is going on in that room. I don’t think I would spend a lot on a ton of receivers because you can find them in the draft.”
CH: With everything this organization is going through or has gone through, you have a guy who does everything right. I also think that when you look at trying to bring other people to this franchise (free agents), how you treat your players matters.”
Logan Paulsen as a side comment said he had just gotten into a fight with somebody at work about this.
LP: “As I went on in my career, especially kicking around the last four or five years, you get this understanding, you are just a commodity. Players often overvalue themselves. It becomes this insulting sort of environment, where they are not giving me what I want.
LP: “If I am on this team, in that locker room right now I am not surprised if he doesn’t sign, just because of what I know of the wide receiver market.”
JK: “They did not draft Terry. I don’t think they are holding that against Terry. I think they understand what Terry means. This market has changed so much over the last few months, I do wonder, how much has each side altered their view of the market, where he (McLaurin) sits in there?”
CH: “I don’t know if you are Washington why you would wait, because all that happens is the market goes up. They consistently, we saw this with Jonathan Allen last year, waiting is their MO. Do we have any idea where they are? Or are both sides just standing there waiting for the other side to make an offer? Do we actually have any kind of understanding of how close or not they are?”
JK: Well, they have definitely talked. The indication of how close they are is determined by Terry not showing up. If you are close, he is not skipping. Guys don’t skip in that situation. You skip when you want to make a statement.”