Terry McLaurin Asks Out of Washington Amid Contract Standoff

Terry McLaurin wants out. 

The Commanders wide receiver requested a trade on Thursday as contract negotiations between the two sides remain at an impasse, according to multiple reports. 

McLaurin held out the first four days of training camp in protest of the talks, which caused a $50,000 fine per day. He reported on Sunday as a hold-in, which ended the fines at $200,000, and was placed on the physically unable to perform list. He also forfeited a $500,000 workout bonus.

The 29-year-old is in the final year of a three-year, $68 million deal he signed in 2022 and will pay $15.5 million this season. He told reporters on July 15 that he wouldn’t practice until there was “progression” on a new deal. 

McLaurin has played for the Commanders his entire career after the team drafted him in the third round in 2019. He’s had 1,000 receiving yards or more each of the past five seasons and had a career-high 13 touchdowns in 2024, earning his first All-Pro nod as Jayden Daniels led the Commanders to the conference title game

McLaurin’s next contract will start when he’s 31 and teams rarely hand out big contracts for receivers at that age. This past offseason, the Bengals made Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase the highest-paid receiver duo in NFL history, but both are in their mid-20s. Those deals have average annual values of $28.75 million and $40.25 million, respectively, but expire before they turn 30. 

The Commanders have said they want McLaurin to stay in Washington; any team trading for him would likely want some assurances around his contract. 

“You’d like to get these things done quicker, but it doesn’t always happen that way,” Washington general manager Adam Peters said at the start of training camp. “Whatever happens along the way, just understand he’s a great player and we want to keep him here.”