'Worth Every Penny': Why Commanders Had to Sign Terry McLaurin to Extension

And it's a whole lot of pennies.

The Washington Commanders and wide receiver Terry McLaurin are celebrating after agreeing to a three-year extension Tuesday afternoon.

The two sides agreed to pay McLaurin $71 million over three seasons after his rookie deal expires at the end of the 2022 season.

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky approved of the move, tweeting that McLaurin's deal is "worth every penny."

McLaurin sat out of mandatory minicamp earlier this month in protest of his current contract, but now, McLaurin has been paid handsomely and will stay with the Commanders until the end of the 2025 season.

ESPN detailed how important it is for the Commanders to not fall in that pattern and explained why the team has to sign McLaurin this offseason.

"McLaurin bypassed the team's mandatory minicamp as he remains without a long-term deal," writes ESPN. "Given the recent deals to A.J. Brown and other receivers, a boilerplate is in place for a deal: an average annual value at or near $25 million per season. The risk Washington runs in not securing McLaurin long term is not just that he one day plays for another team in his prime, but the message it sends: If the best offensive player on your team who does everything right and is the definition of rare football character can't get paid, who can?"

McLaurin just completed his second consecutive 1,000-yard season and is expected to form one of the best wide receiver trios in the game with a healthy Curtis Samuel returning and rookie Jahan Dotson, who the team spent the 16th pick in the NFL Draft on.

Having McLaurin on the field opens up opportunities not only for Samuel and Dotson, but for newly-acquired quarterback Carson Wentz and the rest of the offense.