Football feels weird because one night, you’re happy about your team, and the next, you’re watching them lose 48-18 to New England while the coach gets angry about 15 penalties and “sloppy” play. Add a contract dispute with your longest-serving star, and now Washington’s summer just got interesting. With roster cuts looming, there’s only one question on the mind: what’s really going on with Terry McLaurin, and how does Dan Quinn plug that gaping WR hole?
Camp drama isn’t new, but Terry McLaurin’s “hold-in” has additional dimensions. The 29-year-old showed up on Day 5, avoided $50k-per-day penalties, and went straight to the physically unable to perform (PUP) list with an ankle problem. Meanwhile, it has come to everyone’s notice that he had silently inquired about whether the money didn’t need to move pronto. Washington maintains they’re not trading him, but Quinn’s offense already had its teeth pulled without WR1 in Foxborough.
Terry McLaurin can receive seven game checks this season without taking a snap. On the 106.7 The Fan, Linnell Willingham explained it this way: “Start the year on PUP, miss four games, then there’s a 21-day practice window, effectively three more weeks, where he’s still getting paid.” The NFL’s CBA supports him: players on PUP receive full “Paragraph 5” salary. Funnily, the contract does not pay as long as they’re active for some part of that season.
.@Nell_BTP says “Cutdown Day is going to tell us everything we need to know about where things stand between Washington and Terry McLaurin.” pic.twitter.com/beku7ToUCb
— 106.7 The Fan (@1067theFan) August 10, 2025
Stretch out that timeline: Week 1-4 on PUP/reserve, weeks 5-7 practice-window gray area, and Terry McLaurin keeps around $3.9 million of his $15.5 million base while doing rehab work. Washington enjoys roster flexibility in the cutdown madness, but also runs the risk of further alienating its number-one target. If a mid-October activation precipitates a mid-season trade, that salary investment becomes sunk cost, but still accrues toward the cap.
The gambit appears even crazier when you see Quinn scrambling for answers. Rookie Jaylin Lane flashed but was held to only 35 yards. Moreover, Michael Gallup dropped a red-zone pass, and backup quarterbacks compiled a 70.1 passer rating in Foxborough. Deebo Samuel didn’t play, while Noah Brown is still healing from a knee injury. The depth chart behind them looks like a preseason guide chock-full of QR codes. Little surprise Quinn yelped about “lack of focus” and vowed a “Tell-the-Truth” practice the following day.
Now the bottom line is that Washington is betting that salary-cap arithmetic purchases time for calmer heads and better ankles to dominate. It could, but each snap Terry McLaurin misses makes all the more apparent how pedestrian this receiver room is without him.
Dan Quinn’s struggle to replace Terry McLaurin
Quinn’s search for an interim WR1 is off on the wrong foot. Rookie Luke McCaffrey and UDFA Ja’Corey Brooks ran incorrect depths on two third-downs, extinguishing drives before they started. Gallup, who was a go-to vertical threat, received a sideline tongue-lashing after botching a break that gift-wrapped an interception. With Deebo’s workload gingerly handled following last season’s rib problems, Washington lacks a true Z receiver who makes defenses nervous.
Quinn’s quick solution? Scheme dump touches to Samuel from the slot, pepper jet-sweep glances to Jaylin Lane, and pray Brian Robinson’s downhill run game creates play-action real estate. In back offices, front-office leader Adam Peters continues calling agent numbers. The league sources indicate Washington did kick tires on Bengals depth receiver Trenton Irwin this past weekend. Nothing’s brewing at this point, but it shows the desperation.
If Terry McLaurin‘s standoff makes it to October, and Quinn’s offense continues to sputter, pressure builds for an innovative solution. Does ownership spend the additional money? Does Peters trade future picks for a rental? Or does Washington weather the storm and hope its defense can bail it out in early games? Either way, the Commanders’ early season run just became live must-watch.
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