Terry McLaurin has already placed himself among the top receivers to play for the Washington Commanders in franchise history. His new contract extension allows him the chance to reach new heights and surpass Ring of Fame honorees.
McLaurin doesn't take that for granted, but that's not what he's out to accomplish. His goals, just as they were during his rookie season, are to be a good teammate, produce for his offense and win a championship.
"I've never felt closer to that since I've been here, outside of last year," McLaurin said. "So, the things that we built on to try to get back to that space are something that I'm really most looking forward to."
To McLaurin's point, the Commanders' chances of getting to, and winning, the Super Bowl were more real last year than they were in the last three decades. The Commanders went 12-5 in the regular season and advanced to the NFC Championship, and McLaurin played a pivotal role in that by accounting for 13 receiving touchdowns -- a franchise record -- and his fifth consecutive 1,000-yard season (McLaurin is the only receiver in team history to have more than three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons).
That performance led to McLaurin advancing up the all-time rankings in several categories. He is now sixth in receiving yards, eighth in receiving touchdowns and fifth in catches. Should McLaurin replicate the numbers he had in 2024 -- 1,096 yards with 13 touchdowns on 82 catches -- over the next four seasons, he would move to second in receiving yards, first in touchdowns and second in catches, putting him in the same category as Ring of Fame members Santana Moss, Charley Taylor and Gary Clark as well as Hall of Famer Art Monk.
That possibility has not slipped McLaurin's mind. He knows where he could land if he continues along the path he's been on since his rookie season. "I never imagined that would be possible," McLaurin said, and he's grateful to be in the same conversation as some of the franchise's greatest players.
"Just to have the support that I get from Art Monk and Ricky Sanders and Santana and Gary Clark, like those guys have continued to support me since I've been here," McLaurin said. "And with the records I have passed, they've been extremely supportive."
But McLaurin has always been more focused on the team's success, rather than individual accomplishments. While the team usually fared better when McLaurin got the ball last year -- the Commanders were 8-2 when McLaurin got at least 60 receiving yards -- there have been moments when the franchise won games that McLaurin wasn't as impactful, such as the team's overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons that earned the Commanders a playoff berth last season.
Of course, McLaurin wants the ball, but he cares more about when his team winning rather than putting up yards and touchdowns in a loss. Despite not getting as many targets in the Falcons game or the seven other games where he got fewer than 60 receiving yards, he still showed support for his teammates and cheered them on from the sidelines.
That's the legacy McLaurin hopes he leaves whenever his career ends.
"I hope people say I was a great person on and off the field; I was a great teammate," McLaurin said. "I really cared about the community. I really cared about the fans and the people that I met. I tried to make every interaction personal, and I was very present in those interactions."
And McLaurin does want to be remembered as a great player, but more so for the work he put into getting the results, rather than the results themselves.
"I just want them to know that I was like a dog, genuinely," McLaurin said. "Everything that I did, I was very detail oriented. I never took a play off; I never took practice off. I really just gave everything to the process. And I love having fun out there on the field. When you need a play, I'm gonna be the guy that you can always count on, whether I got 10 catches in the game or one. When we need to play, I hope people can say, 'we can always count on Terry.'"
