Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown, Terry McLaurin sit out offseason programs

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NFL offseason programs began this week, but some notable names are missing in action.

Wide receivers Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown, Terry McLaurin are expected to skip on-field offseason work, as the young stars seek new contracts for the upcoming season, sources told ESPN.

Brown isn't planning on reporting to the first day of the Tennessee Titans' voluntary offseason program, while McLaurin will report but not participate in the beginning of the Washington Commanders' offseason program. Both began Monday.

The San Francisco 49ers' program starts Tuesday, and Samuel will give up a $50,000 workout bonus if he skips, but will not be penalized otherwise, as players who don't attend are not subject to fines.

All three wideouts have one year remaining on their rookie contracts and are in line for new deals during an offseason in which other receivers have secured blockbuster deals, either with their original teams or somewhere new.

All-Pro receiver Davante Adams became the highest-paid wide receiver in league history after signing a five-year, $141.25 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders, while Tyreek Hill cashed in with the Miami Dolphins, signing a four-year, $120 million deal with $72.2 million guaranteed and $52.5 million at signing.

The Buffalo Bills' Stefon Diggs (four years, $104 million), the Jacksonville Jaguars' Christian Kirk (four years, $72 million), the Carolina Panthers' DJ Moore (three years, $62 million), the Los Angeles Chargers' Mike Williams (three years, $60 million) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Chris Godwin (three years, $60 million) were among the other receivers who signed lucrative deals this offseason.

Nick Wright broke down the way that the NFL is changing as it pertains to wide receivers making trade demands on a recent episode of "What's Wright? With Nick Wright."

"There once was a time [when] you could be a great player in the NFL, be disgruntled because you were underpaid and teams were not afraid of that at all. Teams were like, ‘OK, that’s your problem. You're not holding out. We believe you're gonna show up. You're gonna play hard, so who gives a damn?' It seems like that is bending in the other direction," Wright said.

"I don't know how much the throwing fits on social media thing matters, but I do think — rightly or wrongly — teams are afraid of star players being unhappy in the locker room and because of that, they would rather trade that player than deal with potential upheaval during the year. We always knew quarterbacks had that type of juice. It's very interesting to see other star players have that kind of juice. … I think rattling the cage a bit and making some noise is effective because it would appear, if you're a great player, the team will either pay you or move you to a team that will pay you."