Paying Terry McLaurin is risky. Not paying him is even riskier.

Which brings us to the issue of whether Terry McLaurin is “worth” $30 million per year. Consider it through the prism of Daniels, and it’s not even a rhetorical question.

Managing the NFL’s salary cap is the trickiest and most dynamic responsibility in professional sports. Evaluating good players as they age is a thankless task because it demands a general manager have icicles around his heart. For Adam Peters and Washington’s front office, last season’s surprising success complicates the situation. There is nothing in the year-two handbook that instructs a team to pay top dollar for a wide receiver who turns 30 next month. But with the Commanders coming off a 12-5 campaign and an appearance in the NFC championship game, they must maximize a short-term opportunity while executing a long-term vision.

There should be no existential decisions this soon, but to the unexpected victor belong the headaches. This is bigger than a stare down with McLaurin. It’s about the kind of organization Washington wants to be with a rising superstar under center. Is it better to give Daniels every chance to grow into his MVP-caliber talent as quickly as possible? Or do the Commanders want to gasp at their calculator and stifle the good vibes by setting a hard line with the quarterback’s most potent weapon?

In this case, a negotiation feels like a referendum. And if the Commanders want to turn their breakthrough into a sustainable run of contention, they need to act accordingly.

They must pay McLaurin, even if it hurts a little. Because Daniels deserves him.

Despite all the posturing, there’s no sense the relationship between McLaurin and the team is beyond repair. He has requested a trade, perhaps to inject urgency in the process. But while McLaurin has some leverage because he is such an important part of the offense, it doesn’t compare to the advantage the franchise holds. McLaurin is under contract for this season. Washington is not motivated to trade him, and with the season four weeks away, teams aren’t inclined to swap significant draft picks and other assets to acquire McLaurin and meet his contract demands.

If McLaurin wants to play in 2025, he must budge. But the Commanders must humble themselves, too. If they want to give Daniels the best chance to avoid a sophomore regression, the quarterback needs the 80 receptions, 1,100 yards and at least seven touchdowns that McLaurin is certain to provide.

The situation isn’t Jerry Jones vs. Micah Parsons. There’s plenty of hope, yet it’s still a fragile time because negotiations can turn emotional. Of course, Peters should want to continue the admirable work he has done to keep the team’s cap sheet clean. He has taken a few chances — rolling the dice mostly with 30-somethings, interestingly enough — but the team has no potentially crippling contracts. Peters has made no shortsighted moves. Yet the house is still very much under construction, so giving McLaurin top-five-receiver money would feel like the first giant risk of his tenure.

But it would be a greater risk not to take a chance.

When a team finds a quarterback the caliber of Daniels, it can’t contemplate taking weapons from him. Now is the time to stock the room. With Daniels on his rookie contract, the Commanders have a star making low-end-starter money. Washington doesn’t have to pay him until after the 2027 season. Until then, he’ll never have a cap number higher than $12 million.

This is the Commanders’ opportunity to use the most coveted cheat code in the NFL. The past few years, as young quarterbacks have begun to struggle again, it hasn’t been as fruitful to load up around an emerging signal caller on a cheap deal. But Daniels is a throwback to the most recent era when special QBs could direct playoff teams even while they were learning.

He’s not yet ready to make inadequate talent look better than imagined. Even on his current trajectory, that will take another four years or so. And if he’s the player we think he can be, he’ll be earning a salary by then that will demand he do more with less. Right now, he can do mind-boggling things, but he needs the right talent to cushion him. When Peters traded for Deebo Samuel, he acquired a No. 2 receiver with star credentials to assist with Daniels’s growth. He took a big swing trading for left tackle Laremy Tunsil. So it would be counterintuitive to leave McLaurin hanging.

When a franchise quarterback emerges, the mandate shifts. The Commanders must invest. They must accelerate. They must do everything to allow Daniels to chase greatness. He’s a developing player, but he has arrived as an impact performer. Washington doesn’t necessarily have to go 12-5 again to be on the right path, but the floor is much higher now. Falling back dramatically is not an option.

Sometimes, stability costs more than what you want to pay. McLaurin has been the most dependable, productive force in one of the NFL’s most unstable situations. Four coaches. Thirteen quarterbacks. No matter the mess around him, he has reached 1,000 yards in five straight seasons. He has played in 97 of 100 regular season games. He has shown an ability to elevate his game in the postseason.

Now that he’s with a legitimate star quarterback for the first time in the NFL, he has a chance to evolve with a great player and not merely sustain an insufficient offense.

McLaurin reportedly wants a deal with an annual average salary north of $30 million. Surely, Washington would rather be in the high 20s. Considering the first two years of that deal would come before Daniels gets rewarded, there’s a chance to structure a four-year contract in a way that wouldn’t hamstring the franchise.

With the cap rising, the Commanders can afford to do this. The stakes should be clear. Get too cute, and Daniels could suffer the most. They need to stay ahead of a league trying to figure out the quarterback.

The chemistry between a quarterback and his No. 1 receiver is always the remedy to adjusting defenses. Daniels and McLaurin are just beginning to vibe. Their connection deserves to be developed, not interrupted.

Cap flexibility is wonderful. A top-10 QB/WR tandem is more important. Daniels and McLaurin were already that good a year ago. I’m willing to bet McLaurin hasn’t peaked because he has played just one season with a quarterback who didn’t have severe limitations.

There is a 1,400-yard season in him. There are several more of his customary 1,100-yard seasons. Coach Dan Quinn has shown he can get quality performance out of players in their 30s. McLaurin, the ultimate professional, shows no signs of being close to the cliff.

The Commanders wouldn’t be paying McLaurin solely for what he has done. There’s plenty of value in what he still is: a reliable, productive, culture-setting weapon who keeps your quarterback on the rise. NFL decisions are full of gambles, but giving McLaurin a third contract isn’t something to dread.

McLaurin deserves the money.

But more than that?

Daniels deserves McLaurin.