Now that the Washington Commanders have struck gold with star quarterback Jayden Daniels after his sensational rookie season unexpectedly netted the team a pair of playoff wins, the team’s focus turns to building up the roster around him, and that includes adding more weapons on the offensive side of the ball.
The Commanders have a strong foundation with their current No. 1 wide receiver, Terry McLaurin, but he’s the only sure thing Washington has in the group, so more help is needed.
Knowing that, Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport suggests a blockbuster trade idea for the Commanders that has them acquiring New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson in exchange for a 2025 first-round pick and 2026 sixth-round pick.
Trading Wilson would be a tough pill to swallow. But as good as he is, the Jets need a quarterback. Combining Washington’s No. 29 overall pick with their No. 7 overall pick would give Gang Green a better chance at moving up if they’re enamored with one of the top rookies.
An extension for Wilson would undoubtedly be part of the equation here, but the Commanders have more cap space than any team in the NFC ($86.7 million). Washington just fell one game shy of the Super Bowl and has star quarterback Jayden Daniels on a rookie contract. The time to win is now.
It’d be worth surrendering the 29th overall pick to gain a proven wide receiver who would (along with former college teammate Terry McLaurin) give the Commanders one of the better one-two punches at wideout in the league.
To be clear, the Jets would be crazy to trade Wilson, as he’s a young, proven star and one of the best players on the team. But, there is a scenario in which the Jets might do it.
Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Wilson and Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers may not be on the same page and Wilson could demand a trade if Rodgers is brought back.
“Privately, there have been questions regarding whether Rodgers and Wilson can find common ground since they had a blowup during training camp,” Rapoport said. “While Wilson will not publicly say it, those who know him well believe he’s been frustrated at the lack of looks from Rodgers while wondering what else he can do to fix the relationship. Is getting open not enough? Those who study the film will notice him being open while the ball goes elsewhere.”
If the aforementioned deal is on the table for the Commanders, they would be hard-pressed to say no. Wilson would be a massive upgrade for Washington’s offense and would give the Commanders an elite one-two punch for Daniels.
Wilson would be well worth the first-round pick it would take to make this deal work, and the Commanders have the cap space to keep him around for the long haul thanks to a healthy situation the next few years.
Acquiring a special talent like Wilson is exactly the kind of go-for-it move general manager Adam Peters needs to make. We can only hope we get to see the former first-round pick catching passes from Daniels in the near future.
