Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin is in the final year of his current contract and caused a stir when he said on Tuesday that he has "been pretty frustrated" regarding discussions between his camp and the organization.
The Athletic's David Aldridge shared in a piece published on Tuesday how the two sides could come to an agreement before the 2025 season gets underway.
Aldridge suggested that McLaurin and the Commanders should work out a deal worth more than the four-year extension that included $77M in guaranteed money and could be worth up to $120M, similar to the contract Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown received last offseason. Aldridge also thinks McLaurin should be willing to accept an offer that comes in below the four-year, $130M extension that New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson agreed to this week.
League executives, coaches and scouts surveyed by ESPN did not rank McLaurin among the top 10 players at the position for 2025. St. Brown checked in at No. 6 on the list, while Wilson was 10th.
That said, StatMuse shows that McLaurin tallied the NFL's ninth-most receiving yards (6,379) and 12th-most receptions (460) from 2019-2024. More importantly, McLaurin became the favorite target of quarterback Jayden Daniels as Daniels earned Offensive Rookie of the Year Award honors and guided the 2024 Commanders to this year's NFC Championship Game.
As noted by ESPN, McLaurin finished Daniels' first regular season ranked second in the NFL with 13 touchdown catches. McLaurin was 15th with 1,096 receiving yards and tied for 19th with 82 receptions.
"McLaurin has earned a deal near the top of the wide receivers chart," Aldridge added. "He signed a three-year extension in 2022, not knowing who’d be in Washington to shepherd him through the rest of his prime, or whether he’d be in Washington afterward. He bet on himself. The gamble paid off."
Kevin Patra of NFL.com mentioned that McLaurin skipped Washington's mandatory minicamp in June. While the Commanders don't necessarily need McLaurin to report for training camp on time next Tuesday, one would think a team looking to do more than return to the playoffs would want him happy and in the building sooner rather than later.
As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Commanders third among the betting favorites at +900 odds to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LX. Such information highlights why Washington should prioritize reaching a deal with McLaurin as its top priority for the summer.
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