They call him “Scary Terry” for a reason. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin instills fear into opposing secondaries with his speed and deft pass-catching skills, so the Washington Commanders rewarded him with a three-year contract extension worth $71 million.
The contract extension includes $28 million in guaranteed money. That figure sets a record for the highest guarantee for any wide receiver and edged out DeAndre Hopkins’ $27.5 million guarantee back in 2020.
This offseason has been historically kind to the top wide receivers in the NFL. With the league placing a higher value on passing, wideouts are getting paid record contracts. McLaurin is the latest stud receiver to get the bag, joining Tyreek Hill, Devante Adams, AJ Brown, Cooper Kupp, and Stefon Diggs.
Scary Terry: B2B 1K
McLaurin didn’t show up for the team’s voluntary OTA and also skipped their mandatory three-day minicamp as a negotiating tactic. The Commanders never had a desire to trade McLaurin, and were able to work out a deal where he’ll earn $23.3 million a season, making him a top-10 highest-paid wideout. McLaurin becomes the 12th wide receiver to pass the $20 million per season salary mark, and he’s the ninth wideout to head north of $20 million this offseason.
Here’s a scary stat about Scary Terry: in his three seasons with the Commanders, McLaurin had eight different quarterbacks, including Taylor Heinicke, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Alex Smith, Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen, Case Keenum, Garrett Gilbert, and Colt McCoy.
Despite the inconsistency at quarterback, McLaurin nearly posted three consecutive seasons with 1,000 receiving yards. He just missed the 1K mark with 919 yards during his rookie campaign in 2019. In 2020, he caught 87 passes for 1,118 yards and four touchdowns. Last season, he added 77 receptions for 1,053 yards and five touchdowns.
Fantasy football owners were excited heading into the 2021 NFL season because the Commanders signed Ryan Fitzpatrick to play quarterback. However, FitzMagic and Scary Terry never got a chance to light it up when Fitzpatrick suffered a career-ending hip injury in the first game of the season.
The Commanders added Carson Wentz at quarterback after trading with the Indianapolis Colts this offseason. Fans hope the Wentz/McLaurin combo can generate a significant amount of offense during their first season playing under the new branding as the Commanders.
The Commanders are +7000 odds to win Super Bowl 57 and are listed in the bottom dozen on the NFL futures board at DraftKings.
Terry is looking pretty scary with this TDðŸ‘
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/UONgse5VjL
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 3, 2021
