One overlooked detail could make Terry McLaurin’s hypothetical bid to secure a new contract with the Commanders more complicated than you’d think

Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin has been an undervalued gem at the NFL level for years. With no high-end quarterback to feed him the football early in his career, McLaurin still managed to scratch out four consecutive 1,000 yard seasons prior to his pairing with 2024 rookie star Jayden Daniels. The pair obliged with 1,096 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2024 — despite McLaurin getting less targets than he’d seen since his rookie season in 2019.

Now, McLaurin is set to enter into a contract year with Washington and his status has been speculated on amid an absence from team workouts last week. What if McLaurin decides to hold out in search of a new contract? Whether he pushes the envelope that far or not, he has a great argument for a new deal amid a swelling wide receiver market.

Since 2019, McLaurin ranks:

• Third in total routes run (3,398)
• Ninth in receiving yards (6,379 yards)
• Ninth in targets (726)
• T-11th in receiving first downs (300)
• 12th in receptions (460)
• T-15th in receiving touchdowns (38)
• And has the fewest credited drops (17) of any player with at least 700 targets over that period of time

Across his six seasons of NFL play, McLaurin has earned $56.43 million in compensation — more than half of which came in one year when he first signed his three-year, $68.364 million extension with Washington in 2022. As a point of reference, Ja’Marr Chase will make just $15 million less this year than McLaurin has claimed from 2019-2024. McLaurin is currently in line to receive $19.65 million in compensation in 2025 — the 14th-highest cash schedule of a receiving for this upcoming season.

But guaranteed salary and long-term security are paramount to NFL players and Washington’s star receiver has neither. There’s just one problem for McLaurin that muddies the waters for him and his long-time team.

He’s set to turn 30 years old in September. It is by no means “old” but for NFL wide receiver standards, it does start to teeter on the line of where longevity and sustainability of current performance can start to be a concern. 

DeAndre Hopkins was similarly unstoppable regardless of quarterback play before seeing his play taper off in his age 29 season in Arizona — which was marred by a suspension for a violation of the league’s PED policy. He simply hasn’t been the same since. Antonio Brown was good for at least 1,200 yards a season and was completely derailed by age 30 — albeit due to some self-inflicted wounds and his erratic behavior off the field. 

Julio Jones averaged over 1,500 receiving yards per season from ages 25-30 but his best career output after his age 30 season was half of that amount. Larry Fitzgerald experienced a similar falloff before converting into a big-slot to find another gear later in his career. These are some of the best in the game and none of them are immune to the age wall that comes sooner or later. Shoot, Calvin Johnson retired at 30.

McLaurin is, of course, his own individual case. But he’s run the third most routes of any wide receiver in the league since he’s been drafted and Washington must decide whether they’re going to let his contract lie, pay him for what he’s been or pay him for what he will be. That’s a complicated onion to peel.

Perhaps the best recent example is that of Mike Evans, who signed a two-year, $41 million extension with Tampa last offseason. He was 30 at the time of signing — which puts him squarely in the ballpark of where McLaurin is at this stage of his career. Evans, of course, logged his 11th straight 1,000 yard season in 2024. But he needed a garbage time reception for nine yards in the final minute of the last game of the season to get it. Father Time is knocking.

The price point for Evans, who boasts an incredible career resume, won’t help McLaurin’s case to cash in on the rising cost of NFL wide receivers, either. Evans’ extension averaged slightly less ($20.5 million) than the average of the deal McLaurin signed back in 2022. Among active wide receiver contracts, only two players aged older than 27 years old secured an annual average that exceeded $22.5 million — Tyreek Hill and Calvin Ridley. Hill failed to eclipse 1,000 yards for the first time since 2019 and Ridley posted the fewest career touchdowns he’s had in a full season.

So while the cost of top wide receivers across the league is skyrocketing, McLaurin’s age puts him in a precarious position to maximize what might be his last chance at a big third contract in the NFL. The best case scenario may be for McLaurin to secure a contract equal to the one he signed with the team in 2022. If he’s intent on getting it, the value for McLaurin may not be in raising his annual average but instead getting more guaranteed years of salary into his future.