Daron Payne looked like he was on the verge of stardom in 2022. Payne set personal career-highs in tackles (64), tackles for loss (18), sacks (11.5) and quarterback hits (20). It was a perfect storm for Payne: He was in a contract year.
Despite the Washington Commanders being for sale, the former regime managed to re-sign Payne to a four-year deal worth $90 million. It was the second-highest contract at that time for a defensive tackle, behind only Aaron Donald. The deal came two years after the Commanders extended fellow DT Jonathan Allen for four years.
Payne was 25 during his breakout season and surely appeared primed for much more.
In two years since Payne started all 34 regular-season games, he has had a combined eight sacks and 18 tackles for loss. Many believed Payne would have a new lease on life under new head coach Dan Quinn, one of the NFL’s top defensive minds.
Not only was Payne not an impactful presence, Washington was horrible against the run. It’s fair to expect more when paying premium money to two interior defensive linemen. That’s not to say all of the Commanders’ defensive woes were on Payne — far from it.
As general manager Adam Peters looks to retool a roster with 28 unrestricted free agents that surprisingly went to the NFC championship game, many fans want to see the Commanders move on from Payne and Allen.
Payne isn’t going anywhere. His contract almost ensures he’ll be in Washington for at least one more season. Allen has only one year remaining with no guaranteed money remaining.
One former Pro Bowl defensive tackle believes people should be careful about writing off Payne.
Former Tampa Bay star Gerald McCoy joined “Grant and Danny” on 106.7 The Fan recently and discussed Payne.
“Payne’s one of my favorites to watch, so y’all shouldn’t write him off,” McCoy said via Audacy. “Everybody has ups and downs, and it’s a year-to-year league.”
McCoy correctly said there was a lot more to playing defensive tackle than just sack numbers.
“When we’re looking at the tackles, I think we should look more at the disruption of what are they doing to disrupt the game,” McCoy said.
“If it’s in the run game, if they take on a double team, are they getting knocked back or are they holding the point to where this running back just ran into a wall that allowed somebody else to go make the play? In the pass rush, are they getting pressure up the middle and it’s not always coming free? You might put the guard in the quarterback’s face, and that’s making him have to flush out. Those are the things that people should start looking at. Sacks are a great stat, but they’re not all created equal.”
McCoy is correct and knows much more about playing defensive tackle than the media, fans and those who break down the All-22 on X.
With that being said, it’s also fair to expect more from Payne. This will be an interesting offseason for the Commanders, with more potential changes coming at defensive tackle.