It was easy to expect that Terry McLaurin would not be present at the Washington Commanders’ training camp as he continues to contest for a revamp in his contract with the team. His absence on the team's conditioning test was highly noticeable, and it seems that there are high expectations from both parties before he would be glad to return to the team's exercises.

McLaurin has already been vocal about his frustrations with the team after his contract talks with Washington have not progressed any further. That says a lot about how the team is yet to handle his side of the deal despite addressing a few team needs in the offseason so far. With no actual extensions or new adjustments to the deal made, the wide receiver has decided not to show up.

It is no secret that McLaurin is entering the final season of his three-year, $68.2 million deal that he signed with the Commanders back in 2022. That was a show of commitment from the team, despite not being the highest-paid receiver in the squad as new signing Deebo Samuel is set to make $650,000 more than him.

The McLaurin Situation

As far as contract disputes go, McLaurin does have a good and solid argument when it comes to pleading his case for a bigger pay from the Commanders at this point. Washington had an overall impressive season last year, culminating in a near-Super Bowl berth had it not been for the loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship.

"I've been pretty frustrated, I'm not going to lie," said McLaurin. "Everything that has transpired up to this point has been disappointing and frustrating. I want to continue my career here. I've created my life here. My wife and I bought our first home here. So this has been somewhere I've always wanted to be. Just to see how things have played out has been disappointing.

McLaurin has five straight seasons of 1,000-plus receiving yards – achieved even with a different starting quarterback in each of those seasons. He has also led the Commanders in receptions and receiving yards in each of his first six seasons.

But despite all that success, he's just set to make $15.5 million in terms of base salary. On top of that, McLaurin is just guaranteed to make $2.8 million alone in this coming 2025 season – all the more reason for the wide receiver to dispute for a new contract with the team.

Does McLaurin Deserve a New Deal from Washington?

Essentially, McLaurin deserves a new deal with Washington at this point. Aside from his exploits with the team, it's his rapport that he built with rising star and quarterback Jayden Daniels in 2024. If you are not impressed, he has the second-highest passer rating among quarterback-receiver duos at 130.4 in the NFL.

So to fix his problem of having zero financial security beyond 2025 is definitely a must. It is already a risk for him to play under the current deal, which means there is definitely a lot to improve for his sake, starting with a contract extension as well.

McLaurin’s frustrations are completely understandable, and there's definitely a lot of reason to expect that he would be hunting that deal with Washington now more than ever. There's a lot of work that needs to be done, however, if the Commanders want to make it work with him.

Otherwise, it's going to be an easy trade as Washington would seek the best value out of him.