The Commanders could right a lot of wrongs by paying one of their own...

Kyle Crabbs discusses Washington Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin and his contract status during a holdout.

Transcript

00:00The first big test for Washington Commanders new ownership is here and it is time for this

00:05football team to pay up for Terry McLaurin. I'm Kyle Krabs with A to Z Sports and Washington

00:14Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin was reportedly not at workouts this past week,

00:19which has kick-started a firestorm of speculation in regards to his status and interest in playing

00:25in the final year of his current contract in 2025. McLaurin, of course, signed a three-year

00:31extension while entering into the last year of his rookie contract ahead of the 2022 season,

00:36which paid him on average of less than $23 million per season. We've seen the wide receiver market

00:42promptly nearly double since that point in time with Jamar Chase signing a contract

00:46this offseason that pays him upwards of more than $40 million per season on average. McLaurin and

00:54his individual situation, there's still more clarity that's needed. But regardless of whether

00:59or not McLaurin intends to hold out, this is a born and raised member of this organization and he was

01:07here for the end of the Daniel Snyder era. And it wasn't all that long ago that the Washington

01:13Commanders organization was so badly bungling player relations that they had to trade what went on to be

01:20the best offensive lineman in football in Trent Williams for literal pennies on the dollar because the

01:25relationship was so broken and untenable. It's hard to believe that no matter where this situation with

01:30McLaurin goes from here, that things would get anywhere remotely close to that. But as the saying goes, how

01:37you do anything is how you do everything. A lot of the league's best programs make a habit of drafting and

01:43developing players and then paying those internal players to reward them for their growth and buy into

01:50the program. Washington, of course, has all the momentum in the world on their side right now

01:54after making a magical run to the NFC championship game after what was a woesome stretch of football

02:02in the nation's capital. But for Terry McLaurin in particular, this is an opportunity to kind of

02:08right some of the wrongs of the past couple of years. McLaurin signed that contract as what was a

02:12middle round draft choice and took fair market deal. But the cash flow of that deal put him inside the

02:18top five and pay for 2022 when he signed the contract. The last two seasons, Terry McLaurin has

02:24not been in the top 15 and he was not in the top 40 in cash schedule for the 2023 season, which

02:31underscores a player's productive as Terry McLaurin's been. The cash compensation has not necessarily been

02:38in line with the production since 2022. He's ninth in the NFL in total receiving yards and he's tied for

02:4610th in the NFL in receiving touchdowns. This has been a productive player despite not having anything

02:51remotely close to consistent quarterback play before Jaden Daniels showed up this past season.

02:56So for Washington management, what will you do with this opportunity with Terry McLaurin and for Adam

03:03Peters, the general manager, and Dan Quinn, the head coach? Really, it's up to them to work with

03:09McLaurin and find an agreement. But when the time comes for ownership to sign off and put the pen to

03:16paper to sign the check, and here's hoping that Washington and their new owners pass with flying colors.