Will Commanders extend Terry McLaurin before 2025 season?

Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports recently wrote that the Washington Commanders signing star wide receiver Terry McLaurin to a contract extension before he plays in the final year of his existing deal is "an easy choice" for those running the club to make. 

For a piece published on Monday, Ben Standig of The Athletic directly said that "there’s no way this gets screwed up" while addressing how the Commanders will handle McLaurin's situation. 

"Wake me up if there’s no new agreement before training camp," Standig said. "Unless McLaurin’s age (30 in September) becomes an outsized factor — Tyreek Hill (31) is the only receiver among the 15 highest paid older than the 2024 second-team All-Pro — the eventual deal will likely fall somewhere between annual salaries for Tee Higgins ($28.75M) and D.K. Metcalf ($33M)."

McLaurin has played for only the Commanders since they grabbed him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and he's been an absolute steal for a franchise that featured what could politely be referred to as inconsistent quarterback play over the first five seasons of his pro career. According to StatMuse, McLaurin tallied the NFL's 12th-most receptions (460) and ninth-most receiving yards (6,379) from 2019-2024. 

Washington giving McLaurin Jayden Daniels as a QB1 via the second pick of the 2024 draft resulted in the 29-year-old enjoying his best overall campaign to date. Per ESPN stats, only Ja'Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals tallied more touchdown catches (17) than McLaurin (13) last season. McLaurin also led all Washington players for the campaign with 82 receptions, 117 targets and 1,096 receiving yards.

Such numbers show why a Commanders team that's coming off a trip to the NFC Championship Game should want to lock McLaurin down sooner rather than later. Additionally, Standig noted that general manager Adam Peters has other reasons to ensure that Daniels will continue working with McLaurin behind the scenes for the foreseeable future.

"We keep hearing that Peters and coach Dan Quinn have now identified the desired player traits," Standig continued. "If McLaurin, a proven locker room leader who is coming off a career-high 13 touchdowns, isn’t the poster child, who is?"

The Commanders' summer break gets underway once their three-day mandatory minicamp wraps up on June 12. From there, Washington would still have well over a month to finalize an extension for McLaurin before the start of training camp if the two sides can't come to terms on a deal amid the team's springtime workouts.