The Washington Commanders have a surefire WR1 option with Terry McLaurin, who had the best season of his career in 2024 catching passes from rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels as McLaurin not only set a franchise single-season record with 13 touchdowns he also earned NFL All-Pro honors for the first time in his career.
Beyond McLaurin, however, it’s been a by-committee approach to WR2, with veteran tight end Zach Ertz being forced to pick up most of the slack. Even with that configuration, the Commanders went 12-5 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
Moving forward, the Commanders might not want to leave so much to chance when it comes to their passing game.
With almost $100 million in salary cap space, the temptation will be to take a massive swing in free agency for a high-profile wide receiver like Tee Higgins — the better move would be for the Commanders to go after a player like Buffalo Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper.
Cooper, who will be 31 years old in June, is in the final season of a 5-year, $100 million contract extension he signed with the Dallas Cowboys in March 2020 and Spotrac has his projected market value at a 2-year, $28.4 million contract.
That might be a bit of a reach for a player on his third team in 4 seasons, but Cooper does have 3 seasons over 1,000 receiving yards in the last 4 years — the Commanders might want to try to get in early and set the market with a 1-year offer between $10 million to $15 million.
Cooper Could Be One of NFL’s Most Sought-After Free Agents
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox has Cooper ranked as the No. 11 overall free agent in 2025 despite a down year split between the Cleveland Browns and Bills after a midseason trade.
“Statistically, Cooper wasn’t very impressive this year,” Knox wrote. ” … Granted, he was saddled with horrific quarterback play in Cleveland and has been learning Buffalo’s offense on the fly. It’s also worth noting that Joe Brady’s offense doesn’t force the ball to any one receiver, so it was never likely that Cooper would come in and have the sort of production we saw from Stefon Diggs last season. Cooper had 1,250 receiving yards in 2023 and remains a savvy route-runner with strong hands and big-play ability.”
Still Looking for Postseason Success
One other draw for Cooper to the Commanders would be the ability to play with a young, superstar quarterback in Daniels — something that might appeal to a lot of free agents regardless of position — and his lack of postseason success.
Since the Las Vegas Raiders drafted Cooper with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft out of Alabama, he’s been a 5-time Pro Bowl selection but he’s played in just 5 playoff games and never been on a team that’s even advanced to the conference championship.
It’s worth pointing out that when Cooper does make the rare appearance in the postseason, he’s been pretty good. In those 5 games he has 25 receptions for 304 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Don’t feel too bad for Cooper — at the end of the 2024 season he will have racked up a staggering $136.6 million in career earnings.
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