Commanders’ Contract Dispute with WR Terry McLaurin Could Be Costly … For Both Parties originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Two short seasons ago, the thought of Terry McLaurin spending his entire career in Washington was laughable.

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During his first five seasons, the former Ohio State Buckeyes pass catcher played with 10 different starting quarterbacks, including Case Keenum, Dwayne Haskins, Colt McCoy, Alex Smith, Kyle Allen, Taylor Heinicke, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Garrett Gilbert, Carson Wentz and Sam Howell.

That doesn’t lend to what might otherwise be a Hall of Fame career.

But now, McLaurin has a franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels. And while he’s working through a contract dispute as he enters into the final year of his deal, that prospect of potentially someday retiring a Commander (or whatever they’ll be called when that happens) isn’t so far-fetched.

But it also won’t be cheap for Washington to make happen. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler discussed what might be next for the Commanders and McLaurin.

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“He skipped mini camp, and he’s been unhappy with his contract situation,” Fowler said. “I talked to somebody with the team who said, ‘Look, we want McLaurin to be a Commander for life.’ It’s just been a probably a little slower than everyone expected. These are hard deals to do. That receiver market is well above $30 million per year. He’s a star receiver, so they’ve got five-or-six weeks before camp to try to shake that out, and then we’ll see what happens.”

It’ll also be expensive for McLaurin to keep holding out. Per On3Sports, “He’s expected to be fined $17,462 for missing day one of mini camp, $34,925 for day two, and $52,381 for day three.”

“Sometimes football and business, they intersect and this is one of those times,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said on the matter, via ESPN. “Terry is a fantastic teammate and really puts in the work and spent a lot of time with them already this offseason.”

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.