It’s easy to look at Washington’s revamped offense and assume everything is trending up. But peel back the optimism, and you’ll find a telling fracture point: the way communication—or lack of it—has defined Terry McLaurin’s contract drama behind closed doors. The Commanders publicly insist they want Terry to be a “Commander for life,” but the reality is harder to gloss over. According to the Washington Post, McLaurin has now gone more than a month without any meaningful contact from the front office about a new deal. And there’s “not a lot of clarity.”

The 29-year-old wideout is heading into the final year of his extension, at a time when the WR market is surging past previous salary benchmarks. He’s seeking a deal that would place him among the NFL’s highest-paid pass catchers. Yet, the Commanders’ front office has signaled reluctance to meet those terms. Washington icon Joe Theismann has already called on the team to resolve the issue decisively.

“From my perspective, that’s a deal that must get done and must get done soon … you talk about putting a house together and building it with brick and mortar, this is the mortar that keeps the bricks together,” he said. Indeed. After all, despite the frustration brewing over the contract dispute, Terry McLaurin is still optimistic about his contract extension. This week, McLaurin expressed his frustration with the front office, stating, “I’ve been pretty frustrated, I’m not going to lie.”

However, what’s worth noting is that the seventh-year wideout hasn’t given up on the team. As ESPN’s John Keim reported, McLaurin said they’re not at a point of “no return,” but later added, “I guess you can say there is a point of no return. I don’t think it’s at that now but … time is kind of ticking.” Translation?

Well, the WR believes that there is a certain threshold beyond which he will consider packing his bags, but he and the Commanders are not there yet. However, he also pointed out that time is running out to fix things before he hits that point. Decisively, it’s safe to say that McLaurin has earned the right to seek a new deal. He’s been Washington’s top receiver since entering the NFL in 2019 and hasn’t skipped a single game since 2020.

Across six seasons, the wideout caught 460 receptions in the regular season for over 6K yards and 38 touchdowns. Entering the 2025 offseason, the Commanders were expected to re-sign him on a new deal. And the general manager, Adam Peters, has shown mutual interest in the deal, publicly claiming the contract negotiations are “really positive.” The catch?

There are some key issues that are interrupting Terry from reaching an agreement, like contract value, contract length, and guaranteed money. It’s very much like a “we want to, but we need to agree on terms” scenario. And Joe Theismann isn’t on board with the GM’s decision to stretch Terry’s contract.

Joe Theismann points out why a Terry McLaurin extension is possible

Joe Theismann knows a thing or two about the Commanders’ legacy. After all, he’s the all-time franchise leader in most career wins by a quarterback (87), most career passing yards (25,206), most career passing completions (2,044), and most career passing attempts (3,602). So when word got out that the Commanders were dragging out negotiations with their top receiver and deflecting questions under the umbrella of “the business side,” Joe Theismann didn’t mince words.

He laid out exactly why a deal is still possible—and why the front office can’t afford to let it slip away. On Wednesday, Joe made a virtual appearance on 1076 The Fan, where he talked about whether Washington still needs Terry. When the host pointed out that around 70% people are on board with the GM’s “business side thing,” the Commanders’ legend didn’t hold back. “Those people that took that view, let me just say this, this team is not strapped with a quarterback that’s making $50 or $60 million, right? Joe noted.

“So economically, if you just look at it economically, this football team should be in a pretty good position for the next two, three years for sure to be able to um basically pay, you know, different players if they need to or bring people in at a different value.” The Commanders’ quarterback situation is totally different than most of the other teams. Quarterback Daniels is still under his rookie contract and yet to start his second season in the NFL.

That means he won’t be eligible for a new contract until the 2026 season wraps up. So yeah, the front office doesn’t lack the resources to re-sign Terry McLaurin on a new contract. “Because you don’t have because Jayden (Daniels) doesn’t have that big contract like you have in Dallas or in Cincinnati or so many other places, or Miami where you’re looking at $200M or Buffalo, where you’re looking at $265 million, $280 million for the quarterback. So the economics you know from that perspective, and I understand, hey, we know it’s a business, I understand that part of it, but when you look at what you know, what the franchise possibly could afford, that’s different than a whole lot of other places,” he added.

Teams like the Bills, Cowboys, and Bengals have secured their quarterbacks on massive contracts. But that’s not the case in Washington, and they still have two-to-three years to tackle other players’ contracts. Which is precisely why Theismann wants the front office to sign Terry McLaurin.