How Terry McLaurin’s contract extension impacts Commanders’ cap space

The Washington Commanders completed their biggest move of the offseason by signing Terry McLaurin to a three-year extension. It’s a huge move for the football and business side of the organization, as it reiterates the notion that Ron Rivera wants model professionals, both on and off the field, representing the club.

We know what McLaurin brings to the table as a receiver. An offensive captain and one of the team’s promotional posters, though, extending McLaurin was paramount on multiple fronts and should instill confidence in fans that Rivera and Co. have the franchise trending in a positive direction.

While the football and off-field variables have dominated the conversation since McLaurin signed the contract, fans have waited patiently for the deal’s full structure details to come to light. In terms of frontline details, all we knew is the contract’s worth ($78 million) and signing bonus ($28 million).

After nearly a week of waiting, the full terms have been revealed.

How Terry McLaurin’s contract impacts the Commanders cap space through the 2025 season.

Prior to the contract, McLaurin had a measly $3.04 million cap hit. That has ballooned to $7.3 million, so the team is down close to $4 million. According to OverTheCap, the Commanders now boast $13.455 million in cap space, down from nearly $18 million after Landon Collins’ contract came off the books in June. Still, though, that’s plenty of money to sign a linebacker and another secondary piece.

McLaurin’s cap hit will jump to $10.755 million in 2023, good for the ninth-highest on the roster. Carson Wentz, Jonathan Allen, William Jackson, Curtis Samuel, Charles Leno, Kendall Fuller, Chase Roullier and Chase Young all have higher numbers. Not bad for a top-three most important player.

The low cap number gives Washington flexibility to either sign free agents or reward extension-eligible players with new deals. The likes of Montez Sweat, Chase Young, Cole Holcomb and Kamren Curl are all candidates in this regard.

McLaurin’s contract is extremely backloaded, as his 2024 cap hit more accurately reflects the deal’s annual average value. At $24.1 million, McLaurin will have the second-highest cap hit on the roster behind Wentz (if he’s still here) and Allen.

While expensive from a Commanders’ perspective, that cap charge will only rank 10th-highest amongst receivers with the potential to fall even lower once the likes of Deebo Samuel, Diontae Johnson, Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb, Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith get their money in due time.

In 2025, the final year of the contract, McLaurin will count for $23.6 million against the cap. Another reasonable sum for Washington. Worth noting too, that the 2026 void year will see the club charged with a $5.6 million cap hit.

These are pretty manageable figures for the Commanders. Of course, that can be attributed to McLaurin’s massive signing bonus of $28 million and the whopping $34.65 million guaranteed to the star receiver at the time of signing.

We said it once the dry terms were revealed and we’ll say it again: this contract is a colossal win for both McLaurin and the Commanders.