Terry McLaurin, Commanders End Standoff With 3-Year Deal

Terry McLaurin’s standoff with the Commanders is over. 

Washington’s star wide receiver reached a new three-year deal with the team on Monday that will pay him up to $96 million over the course of the contract, though multiple reports indicate it could exceed that figure. He will be in uniform for the team’s season opener against the Giants on Sept. 7.

The deal has McLaurin as the sixth-highest paid wideout in the NFL by average annual value. The deal also comes with a $30 million signing bonus, according to ESPN. 

(Update, Aug. 27: McLaurin’s contract has a base salary of $87 million over three years with $44 million guaranteed, according to the NFL Network. That’s less than the $60 million guarantee D.K. Metcalf received from the Steelers.)

and an average annual value of $29 million, with $44 million guaranteed according to the NFL Network. The $44 million guarantee is inferior to Metcalf’s new contract, which has $60 million guaranteed.)

On July 15, McLaurin expressed his dissatisfaction with lack of progress on a new contract. 

“Everything that has transpired up to this point has been disappointing and frustrating,” McLaurin said of his contract talks then to reporters. “I want to continue my career here. I’ve created my life here. My wife and I bought our first home here. So this has been somewhere I’ve always wanted to be. Just to see how things have played out has been disappointing.”

He was fined $200,000 for missing the first four days of training camp before reporting, but refusing to practice before progress on a deal was made. McLaurin was also fined $104,768 for missing a mandatory three-day minicamp in June. He also forfeited a $500,000 workout bonus. 

On July 31, McLaurin requested a trade out of Washington. 

McLaurin has been present at Commanders training camp, but hasn’t practiced or participated in on-field activities since the spring. He was placed on the physically unable to perform list on July 27 with an ankle injury that the Commanders said occurred late in the 2024 season. He was activated off of it on Aug. 16. 

McLaurin, who will turn 30 next month, has had 1,000 or more receiving yards the past five seasons and caught a career-high 13 touchdowns in 2024. He helped the Commanders make the NFC Championship game in January behind Jayden Daniels. 

McLaurin was set to make $15.5 million this season in the final year of a three-year, $68 million deal he signed in 2022, according to Spotrac. That figure could change if his new deal replaces the last year of his current contract. If it doesn’t, he’ll be 31 when his new deal starts, which was a reported issue for the Commanders. Teams don’t tend to offer big contracts to wide receivers after they turn 30 and the Commanders wanted financial flexibility with a new contract knowing a massive extension for Daniels is eligible for at the end of next season, according to The Washington Post. 

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 and their contracts will expire before they turn 30. Those deals have average annual values of $28.75 million and $40.25 million, respectively.