The Washington Commanders will be looking for a resurgent season by all accounts in 2026. Much of that has already been accomplished on paper during the franchise's bold recruitment period.
Over the offseason, general manager Adam Peters made significant strides in upgrading Washington's defensive line, linebacking corps, and defensive backfield, while additionally bringing in new pieces at tight end and running back. The wide receiver depth is an issue, but the Commanders still have a Pro Bowl-level star in Terry McLaurin.
At least, they hope they do. And how he performs might be one of the more important storylines for Washington heading into the new year.
Commanders need more from Terry McLaurin, and he can provide it
Kevin Sheehan of The Team 980 cites McLaurin as one of the Commanders' players with the most to prove this year, due to his age, contract status, and the underwhelming campaign he just completed. He's not wrong.
Last season was a disaster for McLaurin long before a down was played in Week 1. He was away from the team for the entire summer while dealing with a contract dispute, which was ultimately resolved. However, he was unable to play his way into proper conditioning for the season and suffered a quad/hip flexor injury during Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders after a slow start.
McLaurin played in 10 games, catching 60 passes for 582 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Even giving him the injury mulligan, his 58.2 yards per game were his fewest since entering the league. Granted, most of his healthy contests were played without quarterback Jayden Daniels during the latter half of the season, but a big improvement is needed when competitive action begins in 2026.
As it stands right now, McLaurin is 30 years old — he'll turn 31 in September — and is about to begin his new three-year, $97 million contract. He's not being paid quite as much as he was rumored to be asking for last summer, but the Commanders should still expect consistent WR1 production from him.
McLaurin's 2025 season can be forgiven as an outlier due to injuries and off-field distractions. But he can't have that happen again this year.
Throughout his career, reliability and availability have been his strong suits. McLaurin needs to make that the norm once again, and he needs to play like one of the top 10 or so most productive wideouts in the league.
The Commanders have too much at stake to afford another down year from McLaurin. He'll be out to make a statement, reminding everybody who he is.
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