The Washington Commanders do not want to trade contract holdout Terry McLaurin – but they are not close to a deal, an ESPN insider revealed.
“Terry McLaurin, so he’s frustrated,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said on SportsCenter on Saturday. “You heard him this week talking about how there’s no deal, he would like progress being made, there hasn’t been.
“Something’s gonna have to give here, cooler heads should prevail. They want McLaurin there. They’re not trading McLaurin. That was made clear to me from a source of the team.”
McLaurin, who will turn 30 in September, set a Commanders franchise record with 13 receiving touchdowns to go with 82 receptions and 1,096 yards last season. He’s entering the final year of a three-year, $68.4 million extension he signed in 2022 and is due to make $19.7 million.
Washington’s number one receiver, after seeing several of his peers across the league pen extensions, no longer feels his contract matches his productivity.
I’m told that’s only scratching the surface of the issue here, because the wide receiver market has jumped into that $30 million range,” said Fowler. “My sense is, McLaurin feels Washington hasn’t really been willing to acknowledge that. So if they’re not, it’s almost like he’s taken a pay decrease because he’s a year from free agency.”
Receivers who received extensions this offseason include D.K. Metcalf, Garrett Wilson, and Tee Higgins.
Metcalf, 28, received a four-year, $132 million extension with $60 million guaranteed at signing from the Pittsburgh Steelers. He had 66 receptions, 992 yards, and five touchdowns last season.
Wilson, who turns 25 next week, was given $130 million over four years with $90 million guaranteed by the New York Jets. He caught 101 passes for 1,104 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024.
Higgins, 26, was awarded a four-year, $115 million deal with $40.9 million guaranteed by the Cincinnati Bengals after he recorded 73 receptions, 911 yards, and 10 touchdowns in 12 games last year.
McLaurin told the press earlier this week that he had not heard from the Commanders in close to a month. He also said that he didn’t see how he could practice without a new contract, despite being required to report to training camp on Tuesday, July 22.
While there’s been radio silence for McLaurin, General Manager Adam Peters was busy this week.
The team signed former Super Bowl MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Von Miller to a one-year deal worth $6.1 million in base payments and a maximum possible value of $10.5 million including incentives.
Miller, 36, had six sacks in 13 games last year with the Buffalo Bills.
