Coming off a season where they made it all the way to the NFC Championship game, the Washington Commanders have a lot of buzz around them. However, their recent momentum could be stalled due to off-field issues with one of their key players.
Earlier this week, the Commanders conducted their mandatory minicamp. The majority of the team was present, but one notable absentee was wide receiver Terry McLaurin. For the second time in his career, the star wideout is holding out in hopes of landing a new contract. As of now, McLaurin is set to become a free agent after this season.
Throughout this process, all the reporting suggests that the Commanders are confident this situation will rectify itself before the regular season gets underway. On Saturday morning, one NFL insider detailed the latest regarding McLaurin’s standoff with the franchise.
While on “SportsCenter,” Jeremy Fowler dove into McLaurin’s continued absence from the Commanders. He cited that the organization still values him and doesn’t want him playing anywhere else but Washington.
Patrick Smith/Getty Images
“Terry McLaurin, so this one is a little different because he skipped minicamp. He’s been unhappy with his contract situation,” Fowler said. “I talked to somebody with the team that said look, we want McLaurin to be a Commander for life. It’s just been probably a little slower than everyone expected. These are hard deals to do.”
The Commanders have no reason not to feel confident they’ll work things out, as they’ve been in this situation before. Both sides worked things out three years ago, and he continued to be a foundational piece of the organization after.
McLaurin has been a primary weapon in the Commanders’ offense for years now and is among the most consistently productive receivers in the NFL. McLaurin is coming off a 2024 campaign where he caught a career-high 13 touchdowns along with racking up his fifth-straight 1,000-yard season.
At this point, the Commanders aren’t in a position to let things end any other way than re-signing McLaurin. With Jayden Daniels quickly emerging as a premiere quarterback in the NFL, Washington is looking to compete right away. They added another high-end talent in Deebo Samuel this offseason, but it would be for not if McLuarin continues to hold out.
Seeing that McLaurin and Daniels had an instant connection last year, Washington should be looking to get him back in the mix as soon as possible. With minicamp over now, the Commanders have about six weeks to ink McLaurin to a new deal before training camp begins.
