ASHBURN, Va. — A hold-in beats a holdout at this stage of a blossoming season, anyway.
Terry McLaurin doesn’t have the contract extension he wants yet from the Washington Commanders. But the wide receiver reported to training camp Saturday afternoon, on the team’s first off day of camp, and was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list with what the team says is an ankle injury. He won’t be able to attend team meetings or be on the field while on PUP, but he’s here, able to rehab on the side while his teammates practice and begin the ramp-up toward being able to join them on the field. Meanwhile, negotiations on the extension continue.
Most importantly for the 29-year-old McLaurin, he’ll no longer be fined $50,000 per day for not being in attendance.
We have made the following roster moves:
– Reinstated WR Terry McLaurin from Reserve/Did Not Report and placed him on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform List
– Released CB Fentrell Cypress pic.twitter.com/MCGgMeskXj— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) July 27, 2025
Commanders coach Dan Quinn met and spoke with McLaurin on Saturday.
“He seemed very much like himself,” Quinn said Sunday morning, before the team’s first open practice with fans in attendance at the Inova complex.
“Terry’s always been a serious competitor, and a pro’s pro in a lot of respects. He does things in such a right way. Really, I was checking in with the man, the other side of things, to make sure he wasn’t missing all of that, just the joy of being here, teammates, togetherness. He’s built a lot with (his) teammates here. That’s what people like Bobby (Wagner) and others were probably referencing and talking about, that side of things. They know him as a teammate.”
A league source said Sunday there’s been no substantial progress towards an extension, however.
After practice Sunday, McLaurin was spotted signing autographs for the fans in attendance. “My beef is not with y’all,” he said. “I love y’all.”
In a brief interview with reporters as he walked back into the building, McLaurin said, “It feels good being around my teammates and around the fans. I can’t beat that at all. They’ve shown me a lot of love and support, and I try to give that back on the field and off the field.”
Asked about what it’s like not being able to participate, McLaurin said, “It’s tough. But it’s the business right now. Just trying to take things day by day.”
“Hold-ins” have become more popular of late among players looking for new deals. The obvious reason is to avoid the stacking of fines for missing mandatory camp, but there are at least some benefits to being around teammates, even if McLaurin can’t attend position or team meetings while he rehabs.
Entering the last year of his current deal, which will pay him $15.5 million in base salary, and which made him one of the top five-paid receivers in the league when he signed it in 2022, McLaurin is looking to sign a new deal commensurate with the top receivers in the game. While no details have emerged yet about his asking price, he is certainly aware of the explosion in wide receiver salaries in the last year and would like to move up from his current 17th place among receivers league-wide in average annual value, at $23.2 million. His now-teammate in D.C., Deebo Samuel, ranks 15th among receivers in AAV at $23.85 million.
The connection between McLaurin and Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf seems to be an important inflection point. Metcalf landed a four-year extension for just under $132 million from Pittsburgh in March, moving him up to fourth among NFL receivers in AAV at $32.99 million. Metcalf and McLaurin were in the same 2019 draft class, though Metcalf is more than two years younger than McLaurin, who’ll turn 30 in September. Their career stats are comparable in most aspects: McLaurin has more catches and receiving yards, while Metcalf has more touchdowns. But McLaurin hasn’t missed a game in four years, and he hasn’t racked up either the penalties or occasional run-ins with teammates that Metcalf had while in Seattle.
An extension that starts at $30 million or more per season would put McLaurin 10th in the league in AAV among wideouts.
Earlier this month, just before the start of camp, McLaurin made no secret of his frustration that he and the team hadn’t made any progress toward a new deal.
“Everything that has transpired up to this point has been disappointing and frustrating,” McLaurin said. “I want to continue my career here. I’ve created my life here. My wife and I have bought our first home here. This is somewhere I’ve always wanted to be. Just to see how things have played out has been disappointing. I understand that everything’s a business, but at the same time, I want to put myself in a position where I’m valued and I feel appreciated and things like that. Unfortunately, that hasn’t transpired the way I wanted it to.”
McLaurin just delivered his best season in 2024, playing with sensational rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. McLaurin caught a career-high 13 touchdown passes, many coming at key moments in the Commanders’ surprising run to the NFC Championship Game. There was a game-securing catch on Monday night in Cincinnati, an 87-yard score in the final minutes against the Dallas Cowboys that would have tied the game had the subsequent extra point not been botched, a game-winning score in Dallas in the final seconds and touchdown catches in each of the Commanders’ three playoff games.
McLaurin and Daniels clicked from the very beginning. The Commanders will have to rely on that connection whenever McLaurin gets an extension or is cleared to return to practice.
“Me and Terry built a rapport, and it all stems from the relationship built off the field and being on the same page and checking both of our egos for the betterment of the team,” Daniels said Wednesday. “If this was last year, it’d probably be different because we didn’t know each other, but now since we have a whole year under our belt and just the relationship we built on and off the field, we don’t really have egos when it comes to our relationship with each other, so it’s going to be seamless. But I know Terry’s working, though.”
(Photo: Nic Antaya / Getty Images)
