After signing a three-year, $68.36 million contract extension in 2022, Terry McLaurin and the Washington Commanders are in a position where it's time to sign on the dotted line once again. McLaurin's contract expires at the end of the 2025 season, meaning Commanders General Manager Adam Peters has an important decision to make. However, on Monday at the NFL owners meetings, Peters gave an inside look into where the Commanders are at in the process of signing Terry McLaurin to a contract extension.
“We want to make Terry a Commander for a long time,” Peters said via The Washington Post.
“He’s a great Commander,” Peters added. “He got better and better as the season went on — not only as a player but as a leader. It was really impressive to see him grow so much. You think of Terry as this pristine, polished player, but then he got even better, so it’s really cool. Everybody can get better, even the great ones. So we’ve had talks with Terry’s representation, and I think — just like any talks we’ll have — those will stay in the house. But it’s been really positive.”
As a third-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft to the now Commanders, McLaurin has become but another former Ohio State Buckeye receiver to pan out at the next level. Between Ohio State and LSU, it's safe to say drafting a receiver out of either school will statistically work more times than not.
Now, McLaurin has been a solid receiver for most of his NFL career, but he hasn't been an elite one. However, in 2024, he took his game to a new level.
Before 2024, McLaurin had never surpassed seven touchdowns in a season. As a rookie, he reached the seven-touchdown mark, but he's never replicated that production. That is, until the 2024 season when he got paired up with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Jayden Daniels, resulting in his first-ever double-digit-touchdown season as a pro. With Daniels at the helm of the Commanders' offense, McLaurin had one of his best seasons, hauling in 82 receptions for 1,096 yards and 13 touchdowns.
For those counting at home, McLaurin had just one fewer touchdown in 2024 than he had from 2021 to 2023 combined. However, that's not completely his fault.
Throughout most of McLaurin's time with Washington, he's been paired with middle-level quarterback play. Over the course of his six-year NFL career, he's had 10 starting quarterbacks:
- Kyle Allen
- Ryan Fitzpatrick
- Garrett Gilbert
- Dwayne Haskins (Rest in Peace)
- Taylor Heinicke
- Sam Howell
- Case Keenum
- Colt McCoy
- Alex Smith
- Carson Wentz
So, with a contract extension on the horizon, while their second-year quarterback is still on a rookie deal, it seems more than likely that the Commanders re-sign McLaurin ahead of the 2025 NFL regular season, based on the words of Adam Peters on Monday.
