I am so STARVED for Eagles news that I have resorted to finding a possible contract extension for our current biggest rival and their best receiver. This one is a little different from other contracts in that it shouldn’t be disputed that Terry McLaurin isn’t one of the very top tier receivers in the game. Those are the easy ones. Instead, he is probably firmly in the 11-20 range rather than the 1-10 range where you could see a record breaker kind of deal. That is not a slight to him, he’s awesome. Now, let’s get him a contract.
The Situation
McLaurin is not like most top of the market WR deals you’ve seen recently. That’s because this is his 3rd contract, not his 2nd. He will be 30 to start the season rather than in his mid-20s. I’m sure this has been the main impediment as to why no deal has been signed yet. He is currently in the last season of a 3/$68.3m deal. In his 6 years in Washington, he has been incredibly consistent averaging around 80 receptions, 1000 yards and 5 TDs before breaking out with 13 last season.
As for leverage, McLaurin’s team knows that it is imperative for Washington and the development of QB Jayden Daniels to get a deal done. McLaurin is BY FAR the best receiver on this team and the kind of guy who makes Daniels’s life a lot easier. They don’t want a hold out or any other negativity affecting their young star. That doesn’t mean the team wants to just overpay a WR in his early 30s though.
Comparables
Ja’Marr Chase just blew the roof off the receiver market with his 4/$161m deal signed not too long ago. This beat out the previous record holder Justin Jefferson and his 4/ $140m deal. McLaurin isn’t sniffing those contracts. They are a level above and younger. There are 3 more elite $30m+ guys who fit that mold in CeeDee Lamb, AJ Brown, and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Next, there are 3 other $30m+ per year WRs: DK Metcalf, Brandon Aiyuk, and Tyreek Hill. Aiyuk is probably the same level receiver as McLaurin, but was 4 years younger when he signed his $4/$120m deal. Metcalf just signed a deal with the Steelers for 4/$132m which most of the league considered an overpay due to his change in teams. He basically used the Aiyuk deal and said give me a little more. Tyreek Hill is in the 2nd year of a 3/$30m extension he signed with the Dolphins in 2024. Hill might have been the same age when he signed his deal, but he is a level above McLaurin in terms of skill.
The salary level below these guys ($25m to $29m) is Tee Higgins, Jaylen Waddle, DJ Moore and DeVonta Smith. You could make a decent argument that McLaurin belongs with these 4 skill-wise as well.1 The problem again is that all are significantly younger than our subject and all are on second contracts except for DJ Moore. Ok then, shouldn’t Moore be a comparable? Nope. Moore came into the league at 21. McLaurin came in at 24.
Last level, I promise. This off season, both Stefon Diggs and Chris Godwin signed similar 3 year $60m-ish contracts despite both ending their seasons early due to injury. Godwin is 29, Diggs is 31. Both are probably a shade below Mclaurin’s skill level right now even if their previous production is higher.
Negotiation
If I am Washington, I am trying to make this a 3 (or even 2)-year deal in the Godwin/Diggs range. Maybe you give him a little bump because he isn’t hurt, 3/$72m. That’s a slight raise over where he is right now.
Terry says no. He wants that DK Metcalf deal, after all they have similar statistics, why not? 4/$132m, an average of $33m per season. That’s the going rate for a #1.
Well, Terry, you are 2 years older than DK plus he got a stupid deal and is almost literally twice the athlete you are (even if he probably is not as good a football player). How about we bump you up to 3/$78m?
That’s $26m per year and only gets me to#12 on the list. It wouldn’t even make me higher than the 3rd highest paid receiver in Philadelphia! Give me Aiyuk’s deal at 4/$120m. I need to be in that $30m AAV range.
$30m? YOU ARE 30 YEARS OLD! 3/82.5m. That’s $27.5m, $2.5m more than DeVonta.
This is probably where the two sides are now. It seems like a lot considering it is a near $40m gap, but in terms of AAV, we are close. A compromise on the two numbers is right around the Tyreek Hill contract of 3/$30m. Washington doesn’t want him to make that much, but they are getting him for only 3 years of his early 30s instead of 4.
There’s one last consideration though. These receivers are hyper competitive. If Hill and Aiyuk are getting $30m per year and St. Brown is getting a hair above that, then McLaurin is going to want to top them. PREDICTION: McLaurin resigns for 3/$91m.
Of course, there is always the matter of guarantees and what not. Metcalf received less than half of his contract guaranteed whereas AJ Brown will get almost all of his.2 Most of the WRs in the top 20 in the league are getting around half their contracts guaranteed, although most are signing 4 year deals. Tyreek Hill’s deal is guaranteed for basically 2 of the 3 seasons. That is probably what Terry will get, maybe a little more. PREDICTION: $65m guaranteed.
All contract values courtesy of Spotrac.com
- DeVonta Smith is not only better than all these guys, but took a discount to help the Eagles load up ↩︎
- Going to write about the AJ Brown contract soon. The Eagles did some very progressive things with his deal ↩︎
Philly Front Office 
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