Commanders' Terry McLaurin 'frustrated' over contract talks, unsure if he reports to training camp

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Washington Commanders star receiver Terry McLaurin isn’t sure if he’ll attend the opening of training camp next week, as contract talks have stalled.

Speaking to local reporters on Tuesday after skipping the entirety of offseason workouts, including mandatory minicamp last month, McLaurin expressed his dissatisfaction with the lack of a new deal.

“I’ve been pretty frustrated, I’m not going to lie,” he said, via JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington. “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. Obviously, I understand everything’s a business. But at the same time, I want to put myself in a position where I’m valued, I feel appreciated and things like that. Unfortunately, that hasn’t transpired the way I want it to. I’m just trying to take things day by day. At the beginning of this process, I honestly just wanted for things to work out. I thought things would be more progressed than they have. So at this point, it’s kind of up in the air.”

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McLaurin is slated to enter the final year of a three-year, $68.2 million contract extension signed in the summer of 2022. The $23.2 million per-year average places him 17th among WRs after the Jets handed $32.5 million per year to Garrett Wilson on Monday.

The 29-year-old receiver is coming off a fifth consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season in 2024 and earned his second Pro Bowl nod. McLaurin was noncommittal when first asked about reporting to training camp.

“Honestly, I haven’t decided that yet. I’m trying to take things day by day,” he said. “I think that’s the disappointing part where I was hoping up into this point things would clear up a lot more than they have. I haven’t made that decision yet. I’m just going to see how the rest of this week goes and take it day by day and go from there.”

Later, McLaurin noted that he hadn’t had discussions with the club about an extension in more than a month.

“I think there has to be some active discussions,” he said. “Like I said, we haven’t talked in over a month, and with camp around the corner, it’s becoming a little bit of crunch time. Obviously, you want to be in a position where you’re building on what we did last year, and Jayden (Daniels) and I continue to build along with the offense. That was the thing: Before I took a step back, things were going great on the field. The connection, the offense, the energy was just amazing. So to see where it was then and where it is now is definitely disappointing. I don’t necessarily know what happens next, but without any progressive discussions, it’s hard to see how to step on the field.”

The new brass in D.C. has made a trove of excellent moves since taking over a woebegone franchise. The impasse with McLaurin is the first bit of negative news, and it continues to linger.

Commanders veterans are set to report to camp on Tuesday, July 22. If McLaurin opts to skip the start of camp, he’d be subject to nonwaivable $50,000 fines for each day missed. The wideout could also report to camp and stage a hold-in, not practicing until the situation is resolved but avoiding the penalties.

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