Terry McLaurin is one of the few players who have opted to skip his respective team’s minicamp without an excused absence. Washington’s top wide receiver for the past three seasons, McLaurin will have a high price tag — thanks in large part to 2022’s soaring wideout market.
Although McLaurin has not been at the Commanders’ facility in weeks, showing up only to the team’s early voluntary sessions as an observer and then disappearing around draft time, Ron Rivera is nevertheless optimistic the team will finalize an extension this year. The third-year Washington HC cited the team’s successful talks with Jonathan Allen last year, noting the team began discussing McLaurin’s deal earlier this offseason than it addressed Allen’s in 2021. Rivera believes the McLaurin talks are “headed in the right direction,” per ESPN.com’s John Keim (on Twitter).
“We understand what Terry is trying to do,” Rivera said, via Keim (on Twitter). “We want him here; he’s going to be here. We believe in him as a football player.”
That belief will be costly, with the wideout market changing dramatically since Rivera backed a McLaurin extension in February. The former third-round pick is undoubtedly asking for more than the Jaguars gave Christian Kirk (four years, $72MM) and likely has set his sights on being the 12th wideout attached to a deal north of $20MM annually.
McLaurin has yet to receive a Pro Bowl invite, but two other members of the $20MM-AAV club — D.J. Moore, Mike Williams — also have not been such honored. Escalating price notwithstanding, Keim expects a deal to be completed this year (Twitter link).
While McLaurin is the Commanders’ unquestioned passing-game centerpiece, the team’s other top 2022 extension candidate — Daron Payne — finds himself on less sturdy terrain. Washington indeed addressed Allen’s contract last year — via a four-year, $72MM pact that makes him the NFL’s fifth-highest-paid interior defensive lineman — and has other D-line cogs to take care of. Montez Sweat is extension-eligible, but thanks to the fifth-year option, Washington can table potential Sweat talks until 2023. The team’s no-brainer re-up prospect, Chase Young, becomes eligible for a second contract next year.
Payne showed up for Commanders minicamp this week, after missing some OTA time, but has refrained from doing team drills due to his contract situation, Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post tweets. The urgency in Washington’s Payne talks does not match the team’s approach with McLaurin, and it recently used a second-round pick on another Alabama defensive tackle — Phiadarian Mathis. Payne declined to elaborate on where any negotiations stand, per NBC Sports Washington’s Bijan Todd.
Payne would seemingly sit behind McLaurin in the team’s franchise tag queue, if neither signs an extension this year. But the former would be an attractive 2023 free agent. Payne, 25, is coming off his most productive season, one in which he tallied 4.5 sacks and notched a career-high 15 quarterback hits. The well-regarded interior lineman has also missed just one game in four seasons, adding to his value.