Terry McLaurin has been fighting for respect since entering the league as a third-round draft pick in 2019. He remained an upbeat leader on some truly awful teams and was a beam of sunlight as the Washington Commanders slogged through scandal and dysfunction.
McLaurin never complained. He let his play do the talking.
Despite lining up alongside a rotating cast of journeyman quarterbacks, McLaurin was a model of consistency. You could pencil him in for 1,000 receiving yards before each season and forget about it. Still, he remained a constant presence on “most underrated” lists.
Before 2024, McLaurin had made just one Pro Bowl. He never received any other league-wide honors.
Then came 2024. Jayden Daniels and Kliff Kingsbury. McLaurin was ultra-dominant.
His overall numbers may not have been all that different. In Kingsbury's more diverse offense, McLaurin’s targets took a minor hit. But he scored 13 touchdowns, double his previous high, and tied for his best first-down total. His target success percentage skyrocketed into elite status. He made big plays aplenty in meaningful games.
The league finally noticed, sending him to his second Pro Bowl and honoring McLaurin with second-team All-Pro status.
Commanders' Terry McLaurin still seeking league-wide recognition, and a massive contract
As any Commanders fan knows, McLaurin is currently embroiled in a contract dispute. It is the single biggest story affecting the franchise’s immediate future. The wideout feels he has been a good team player as well as an elite talent and deserves a major contract extension.
Adam Peters has not commented publicly on the negotiations, but we can assume he is concerned about giving a multi-year extension at max value to a receiver who turns 30 years old this season. After all, receivers have a history of falling off after passing that threshold.
Based on their latest positional rankings, you can now put ESPN on Peters’ side in the standoff.
Jeremy Fowler, citing votes from influential people around the league, has been ranking the best players at each position in the NFL. McLaurin didn't make the top 10 receivers.
To be fair, he barely missed. He topped the honorable mentions list. Still, to see a few of the names ranked ahead of him has got to be maddening for anyone who agrees that McLaurin has been one of the most underrated players in the league over the past five seasons.
ESPN is theoretically ranking the best players right now. This list does not consider career achievements. It does not consider the future. Neither older stars nor younger prospects get a boost from what they have done, or what they might do down the road.
Still, McLaurin found himself on the outside looking in at players like Malik Nabers (No. 7) and Garrett Wilson (No. 10).
That’s the same Wilson who had a 10.9 yards per catch and seven touchdowns in 2024. McLaurin, in comparison, went for 13.4 yards per catch and 13 scores.
Wilson did catch more balls, but that’s the only meaningful stat in which he surpassed McLaurin.
The same is true of Nabers, although the New York Giants’ rookie can make a stronger case. He also caught a lot more balls than McLaurin, but as with Wilson, he had a much lower yards per catch and touchdown total.
Nabers made a lot of plays for the Giants. McLaurin made a lot of big plays for the Commanders.
What is especially galling about Nabers' inclusion is the excuse his defenders make for him. He plays on a lousy offense with poor quarterback play. Somehow, that never seemed to figure into the evaluation of McLaurin before Daniels arrived.
On one hand, this doesn’t matter. Lists like this are just conversation pieces, giving fans something to argue over. But given McLaurin’s contract situation, this does take on additional meaning.
CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown were also included, meaning Washington is the only NFC East team without a top-10 receiver. McLaurin is not saying he deserves an extension because he has been a good soldier in the past. He is arguing that he is among the league’s best right now. He should be paid at that level.
General managers would justify giving extensions to youngsters like Wilson and Nabers because they are likely to excel for a long time. But if they are already considered better than McLaurin, it makes the hill he must climb that much steeper.
For the record, heading into the 2025 season, they are not better than McLaurin. It would be nice if the league’s experts would finally recognize that fact.
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