Dan Quinn and Adam Peters
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Commanders head coach and general manager Adam Peters interact before a September 7, 2025 game.
Maybe the Washington Commanders were right all along. Maybe you shouldn’t pay wide receivers over 30 years old.
Just 1 year into a 3-year, $97 million contract extension for wide receiver Terry McLaurin, it’s already looking like an epically bad investment.
Bad enough that Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon put McLaurin, who will turn 31 years old in September, at the top of his list of the NFL’s “Most Overpaid Players” following peak free agency.
After signing his contract, McLaurin delivered career lows across the board of 38 receptions for 582 yards and 3 touchdowns while missing a career-high 7 games due to injuries.
McLaurin’s struggles also held back the development of quarterback and 2024 1st round pick Jayden Daniels significantly. He missed 10 games due to injuries, and on the rare occasion he and McLaurin were on the field together, they rarely seemed to be on the same page.
“The seventh-highest-paid receiver in the NFL has never hit 1,200 yards, has scored eight-plus touchdowns just once, and never caught 90 passes in a season,” Gagnon wrote. “Now durability could be a concern for a good-not-great player on the wrong side of 30.”
McLaurin’s Time in D.C. Possibly Coming to End
There was a lot of blame to go around when it came to the nightmare, 5-12 season the Commanders just went through.
One player who was able to avoid much of the public-facing blame was McLaurin, who held out for his new contract and was absent for all but the final few weeks of the offseason.
Media types and fans blamed the Commanders’ front office for not paying McLaurin from the jump. McLaurin couldn’t shake off the rust of an offseason away from his team and training with his teammates and had the worst season of his career in 2025.
NFL insider Matthew Berry predicts 2026 will be the last season for McLaurin with the Commanders if he fails to produce again.
“The (Commanders) will look to add to the wide receiver room with an emphasis on speed and don’t be surprised if 2026 is Terry McLaurin’s last year with the team,” Berry wrote. “To that end, one source told me that while almost everyone expects Washington to go defense in the first round this year, if the top three edge guys are all gone by No. 7, don’t be surprised if the Commanders take (Ohio State wide receiver) Carnell Tate.”
Commanders Bring Carnell Tate in for Visit
Tate confirmed he was going to meet face-to-face with the Commanders this week.
“Carnell Tate said he has upcoming Top 30 visits to the Giants, Titans, Saints, Commanders, and Chiefs,” NFL reporter Ryan Dunleavy wrote on his official X account on Thursday. “Already visited Browns.”
McLaurin, like Tate, also played for Ohio State.
“Carnell Tate would be such a great pairing with Terry McLaurin,” ESPN’s Mina Kimes said on Wednesday. “I think, at minimum, he is an excellent 1B. I love him with McLaurin. The smoothness, the route running, the hands …. and he is a downfield threat in just a different way, but that would be such a good pairing for Jayden Daniels. So I would be more inclined to go wide receiver (in 1st round).”