Washington clearly laying groundwork for Terry McLaurin contract extension

The Washington Football Team‘s roster could look a lot different by the start of training camp.

While bringing in new faces to bolster the team’s collective talent will be a top offseason priority, it doesn’t come close on the important scale in regard to retaining players who are already vital to the club’s culture.

We saw this last offseason when Washington made Jonathan Allen one of the highest-paid defensive tackles in the NFL. Before this season even concluded, they rewarded Charles Leno with a $37.5 million extension.

You can honestly make the case for a handful of players to join Allen and Leno on the extension train. However, it’s pretty obvious Terry McLaurin is far and away first on that list, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he’s Washington’s reported “top priority”for a new deal this offseason.

To their credit, Washington is making that abundantly clear.

Less than 24 hours after that scoop was disclosed, McLaurin told the media he’s involved in the club’s rebrand on Feb. 2. If that doesn’t qualify as laying the groundwork for an extension, good luck finding something that does.

The groundwork is being laid for a Terry McLaurin extension.

We’d never question McLaurin’s loyalty to Washington. He might be loyal to a fault, but it feels like it might take a little more than a big-ticket offer to convince him to sign. It could be something as little as making him feel wanted.

With fans doing everything possible to convey their love for McLaurin, the franchise is seemingly following their lead, because the 25-year-old is honored to be a part of the hype campaign for the new nickname, logo and uniform.

"“That’s humbling,” McLaurin said Monday. “With this rich history of this organization, to be a guy in his third year to be able to help with this rebranding and this new culture shift, I don’t take that lightly. I would like to think that speaks to what they think of me and what I mean to this organization.”"

Anyone else smiling ear to ear after reading that quote? Because it sure feels like McLaurin feels wanted by Washington. While the official terms of his deal will likely have the final says in terms of whether he signs an extension, it’s little things like this that go a long way towards convincing him to put ink to paper.

Speaking of the little things . . .

KEEP IT COMING.

It might not be a part of the negotiation process, but McLaurin being rewarded for how he interacts with the media is huge. Being the compassionate and thought-provoking guy he is, you just know this meant the world to him.

Getting back to Washington’s rebrand, McLaurin noted that the most important thing will be what happens after the announcement.

"“At the end of the day, I feel like people are going to feel some type of way whatever the name is, but at the end of the day I just hope it’s something that we can all rally around,” McLaurin said."

Just when you thought the 25-year-old couldn’t endear himself into fans’ hearts more than he already has, he comes forward and tries to make peace when the fan base is butting heads over what they feel the name should be.

He’s just a great guy. Nothing more to it.

By involving McLaurin in the process, Washington has proven they care deeply about extending him.  Stop us if you think we’re jumping the gun, but we’d be stunned if both sides don’t reach an agreement this offseason.

At the very least, the groundwork is being laid. For a franchise that hasn’t extended a wideout of significance since it re-signed Santana Moss for $15 million over three years back in 2011, that’s really all you can ask for.