Will Commanders WR Terry McLaurin Get the Contract His All-Pro Play Commands?

The NFL receiver market has exploded in the past three years, and Terry McLaurin is looking to keep up.

When the Commanders receiver signed an extension in 2022, he got three years and $68 million, good money for a guy who’d been steady in his first three years but hadn’t made a Pro Bowl. The positional value for receivers has gone off the charts since, especially this offseason, with Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase topping $40 million a year. The Jets’ Garrett Wilson just got a four-year extension worth $130 million.

So McLaurin, turning 30 in September and with a year left on his current deal, spoke out Tuesday to express his frustration that there hasn’t been more progress on a new deal with Washington. He’s coming off an amazing season, catching 13 touchdown passes to nearly double his career best. After five years with middling quarterbacks throwing him the ball — including Sam Howell, Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke — McLaurin certainly enjoyed playing with breakout rookie Jayden Daniels.

Terry McLaurin was second in the NFL with a career-high 13 touchdown catches in his first season playing with QB Jayden Daniels (right). (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

“At the end of the day, what top receivers are compensated at in today’s NFL, I feel like I am that,” McLaurin told reporters. “I feel like that has displayed itself, not only just this cycle of receivers who have signed, but last year. I know I’m in that category. So it’s just a matter of seeing if it makes sense for myself, and if the team feels it makes sense for them.”

If McLaurin plays out this contract, he would be one of the most coveted free agents at any position next spring. Spotrac has assessed his market value at $31 million a year. He wants to stay in Washington, and he’d like to play this season with the financial security of a new deal and the guaranteed money that would come with that, as opposed to risking a serious injury that would impact his market as a free agent.

McLaurin has topped 1,000 receiving yards in each of the past five seasons, and he just missed doing so as a rookie in 2019. He missed the final game of that season with a concussion, finishing with 919 yards. As it stands, he’s one of just six receivers ever to top 900 yards in each of their first six seasons. It’s an impressive list: Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Mike Evans, A.J. Green, DK Metcalf and McLaurin.

The easiest comparisons for McLaurin are the only two receivers in the 2019 draft with more touchdowns: the Eagles’ A.J. Brown and the Steelers’ Metcalf. Neither is with the team that drafted him, but both are paid much more than McLaurin. Brown has a three-year, $96 million deal for the 2027-29 seasons, and Metcalf has a four-year, $132 million deal for 2026-29. McLaurin would play the 2025 season under his current deal — worth $19.65 million in total compensation, according to Over the Cap — with the new money in a new deal starting next season.

Why the hesitation from Washington? It seems like an easy decision, rewarding a player who stuck with the Commanders through some lean years. Last season was the first time in McLaurin’s six years in Washington that the team had a winning record. His connection with Daniels was instant and a big part of the rookie’s success, so locking McLaurin up now would protect the Commanders from what it would cost to keep him if he has another 13-touchdown season and the team goes on another deep playoff run.

McLaurin isn’t Washington’s only big free-agent receiver next spring, however. The team traded for Deebo Samuel this spring, and while he’s unlikely to outperform McLaurin this fall, what if you pay one receiver huge money and the other guy produces more? It would be a nice problem to have, if McLaurin somehow isn’t Washington’s most productive receiver.

The end of last season can be a springboard for the Commanders. After starting 7-5, they won their last five regular-season games, then beat the Bucs and Lions on the road in the playoffs before getting routed by the Eagles in the conference championship. There’s excitement heading into Dan Quinn’s second season, with many seeing Washington as one of the NFC’s best challengers to the Eagles and Lions.

And for all of that, one of their best players is very publicly upset, and considering not showing up for training camp next week.

“Everything that has transpired up to this point has been disappointing and frustrating,” McLaurin said. “I want to continue my career here. I’ve created my life here. My wife and I have bought our first home here. This is somewhere I’ve always wanted to be. Just to see how things have played out has been disappointing. I understand that everything’s a business, but at the same time, I want to put myself in a position where I’m valued and I feel appreciated. Unfortunately, that hasn’t transpired the way I wanted it to.”

McLaurin is currently the league’s 17th-highest-paid receiver because he’s playing on a three-year-old contract. He finished fourth among receivers in last year’s AP All-Pro balloting, ahead of Brown, ahead of the Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb, who just got an extension paying him $34 million a year. And Washington, thanks to a quarterback on his rookie contract, has the sixth-most 2026 cap space of any team, with ample room to give McLaurin a new deal.

Where McLaurin is right now is where Evans was with the Bucs two years ago, entering the final year of an old and underpaying contract. Evans had to play out his deal, re-signing with the Bucs just as free agency started in spring 2024. Will that be what McLaurin does as well? If the team is willing to wait until after the season and risk losing him in free agency, the Commanders will have to hope the drama isn’t too much that it spoils what could be a title-contending season.

If his 2025 is anything like his 2024 was, McLaurin will be at least a $30-million-a-year receiver. Can he find a way to get that deal now, to convince Washington he’s a loyal player worth investing in before his deal is up?

If the answer is no, there’s a chance that huge contract comes from somewhere else.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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