Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin reacts after a play with wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

NFL insider says Terry McLaurin could end holdout soon with Commanders

Originally posted on Washington Commanders on SI
By Jeremy Brener | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 12:00 PM ET

Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin continues to hold out as he requests a trade and demands a new contract.

However, many people inside the Commanders organization are confident McLaurin will remain with the Commanders for the upcoming season.

"Not only can I not find anyone who believes wide receiver Terry McLaurin will play for another team in 2025, I can't find anyone who has a remotely plausible hypothetical in which McLaurin plays for another team in 2025. This section might better be called one thing I didn't hear: a way McLaurin actually gets out of Washington. I strongly believe this standoff will end with a compromise extension before Week 1," ESPN insider Ben Solak wrote.

Commanders confident McLaurin will return

McLaurin has been absent from Commanders practice with an ankle injury and recently came off the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) List. McLaurin has also been working on getting a new contract, but the negotiations have yet to progress.

Perhaps the Commanders want to see McLaurin healthy before agreeing to pay him millions of dollars over the next few years, but it's quite possibly a bit deeper than that.

That being said, McLaurin's teammates want him back and the Commanders hope they can have him in the building soon.

There is also a world in which McLaurin bets on himself and goes through the season without signing a contract. McLaurin might not want to settle, but it also would give the Commanders ammunition to place the franchise tag on him, which they should be willing to do.

McLaurin shouldn't want to play on the tag, so he might have to compromise with the Commanders in order to get the right deal done.

McLaurin could return to practice this week, but the Commanders won't have many sessions before their final preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. Kickoff is set for Saturday at 12 noon EST.