ESPN’s John Keim made it clear his understanding of Terry McLaurin reporting to Washington Commanders‘ training camp.
“This is not a sign of progress for a contract extension, Keim said on Sunday’s edition of the “John Keim Report” podcast. “I’ve been told by multiple people, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of movement. Both sides are pretty firm on how they view the situation.”
McLaurin had mysteriously held out for four days, meaning the Commanders fined him due to the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement. Thus, each day he was fined $50K, which means he accumulated $200,000 in fines.
Of course, McLaurin could do the math, and no doubt did the math all along. However, in his frustration over not getting the contract he wanted for 2026, he was hurt and wanted to lash out at GM Adam Peters, showing him that he was not reporting on time.
Yet, McLaurin also realized he actually possesses no leverage whatsoever in this dispute. He is under contract for this season, and that meant he was under obligation to be in training camp, fulfilling the terms of his contract he signed back in 2022.
It also didn’t help that many of Terry’s Commanders teammates have contracts that conclude at the end of the current 2025 season. Yet, each and every one of them showed up for training camp. The only player whose contract concludes after the 2025 season who did not show up for training camp was McLaurin, who was expected to be the highest-paid player in that group. That was not a good look.
Terry knows this, and so Terry is back in camp. He is there because he is a terrific team leader in 2025, prioritizes the 2025 team over his personal preferences for 2026 and beyond. McLaurin needed to stop talking about how he was a leader and start showing he was, and he did that by reporting on Sunday.
This is now a “hold in,” but at least Terry will be there with his teammates and will be in the team meetings, where he should be. Stay tuned to see how the actual contract talks for 2026 and beyond continue.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Terry McLaurin is back with the Commanders, but no new deal is close