The Washington Commanders enter the 2025 season as one of the more intriguing teams in the NFL. Jayden Daniels has provided a new life to the franchise, with Terry McLaurin right at the top of the list of players most impacted. After going 4-13 in the 2023 season, Washington catapulted forward to finish last year with a 12-5 record and earned its first postseason appearance since 2020.
It’s a big season for McLaurin, who is set to turn 30 in September and entering the final year of his contract. He has been a model of consistency despite playing alongside many different quarterbacks in Washington. The two-time Pro-Bowler enters the year with five consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons and tallied a career-high 13 touchdowns last year.
McLaurin and the Commanders haven’t agreed to an extension, and the wideout is currently holding out from minicamp. NFL teams could look to swoop in if the situation looks unfixable. Players have gone to some extreme lengths in their holdouts before. For the time being, McLaurin is on the books for $15.5 million next year before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.
Will Terry McLaurin still be a fantasy football superstar despite his contract situation?
McLaurin finished with 82 receptions for 1,096 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. Based on DraftKings scoring, he averaged 16.7 fantasy points per game, which ranked 16th among all wide receivers. The Ohio State product suited up for all 17 games and tallied 283.8 total fantasy points, which ranked sixth among wide receivers and 27th among all players.
While a holdout could be disruptive, McLaurin has a strong track record in his production and familiarity with Daniels after last season. One would think cooler heads prevail and Washington finds a way to satisfy its star wide receiver and ensure he remains lining up alongside the reigning Rookie of the Year. If the holdout carries into the season, it becomes a different story, but there should not be any concern for McLaurin missing any OTAs or training camp.
Something to consider is a potential sophomore slump from Daniels. He impressed as a rookie, but defensive coordinators have a full season of tape to analyze and game plan against. C.J. Stroud was in this same position last year.
Considering McLaurin has still produced while catching passes from Case Keenum, Alex Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Carson Wentz, Dwayne Haskins, Colt McCoy, Taylor Heinicke, Sam Howell, Garrett Gilbert and Kyle Allen, a potential slump from Daniels should be the least of the wide receiver’s concerns. His consistency regardless of who is throwing him the football is extremely impressive. He finished ranked 20th in fantasy points per game in 2020, 32nd in 2021, 23rd in 2022 and 38th in 2023.
Assuming the contract issues do not bleed into the season, count on McLaurin to remain one of the best wide receivers in the NFL.
Count on McLaurin being a low-end WR1 or a strong WR2 this fantasy football season. The contractual conversations will continue, but don’t let this concern you about his on-field ability. The Commanders should sign McLaurin to an extension to keep the Daniels-McLaurin pairing in Washington for years to come.
