Terry McLaurin and the Washington Commanders have yet to agree to a contract extension.
With the star wide receiver’s trade request lingering out there and the regular season less than a month away, it’s not a good situation for the Washington offense and QB Jayden Daniels.
McLaurin is reportedly eying the four-year, $132 million deal signed by DK Metcalf with the Steelers earlier this offseason. Metcalf is two years younger than McLaurin, but he’s from the same draft class.
ESPN’s John Keim provided the latest in a new article out Wednesday. The first key point is this: Keim writes that “one league source said he could see the Commanders eventually agreeing to pay $28 million per year.”
“But would that be enough?” writes Keim. “According to various reports and multiple sources, DK Metcalf’s contract has served as a guide for McLaurin — though whether that’s in terms of average per year ($33 million) or total guarantees ($60 million) remains uncertain. McLaurin and Metcalf were in the same draft class and have comparable NFL statistics.”
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Keim then goes on to break down the reasons the sides can’t agree.
One of these is age: McLaurin turns 30 on Sept. 15.
Another is what Keim calls “precedent.” The Commanders have other extensions coming up, and “Washington doesn’t want to set a precedent with McLaurin of paying what it perceives to be too much,” writes Keim.
McLaurin does have some leverage, though.
“It’s no secret that Washington is better with him on the field,” Keim writes. “The Commanders don’t have another receiver like him on their roster.”
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The other side has leverage, too.
“The Commanders have leverage of their own: McLaurin is under contract this season,” Keim writes. “If the two sides can’t reach an agreement, he will have to play or forfeit his weekly game checks for each missed game. Based on his salary of $15.5 million, that would cost him $861,111 per week. He also gets a $50,000 roster bonus each week (in addition to having already received a $2.8 million roster bonus on the fifth day of the new league year in March). Washington could then franchise-tag him for 2026 if it wants — at a cost of as much as $30.4 million — or allow him to test the market to fully gauge his value.”
The Commanders also have the new ownership variable, which could end up impacting a new deal in either direction.
All told, everyone in the nation’s capital knows they need McLaurin on the field. But how to get a deal done, and at what rate? Those remain tougher questions.
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