you say that but the model has changed - he's in the exact same position as aj brown, deebo samuel, hollywood, dk etc... 2 of those guys have already been traded and with the precedent also set by tyreek and davante this offseason too it's not far-fetched to think someone else could/would be this offseason too
he's already held out of minicamp too (unlike deebo) - it's not that washington wants to get rid of him, it's that the playbook for WRs has changed now
I mean has it really changed though? Or is the playbook case-by-case based on whether a team wants to pay the player or not?
Affordability is a factor. Can those teams afford to pay those players? Do they want to pay those players?
A roster holdout in OTAs is hardly new. There's multiple of them every year across various positions.
If McLaurin is getting traded, its either because a) Washington doesn't want to pay him like a #1 WR, and think they can replace him elsewhere (basically what the Titans did) or b) he makes it extremely clear that he basically won't sign an extension with the team and asks to be traded (basically what Hollywood did).
Holding out has lost a lot of its luster in terms of leverage, namely because its so expensive for the player to do it now. The only real leverage they have is to say they want out and to make it clear they won't re-sign there. That's the only leverage that forces their hand.
We get to that point, I'll get on board. But its extremely premature for fans to start pretending like every disgruntled WR is automatically getting traded. That's where we're at now.
