Here's why the Commanders should sign Daron Payne to an extension this offseason
Taking a closer look at the development Payne has shown so far this season and why he merits a new contract
With the Washington Commanders on a bye week this week, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to look ahead to one of the key decisions the team has to make this offseason. Defensive tackle Daron Payne is scheduled to become a free agent this offseason and will likely become one of the top free agents on the market should Washington allow him to walk away. The Commanders already have one expensive defensive tackle contract in Jonathan Allen and also have to consider that the likes of Montez Sweat and Chase Young will be due new contracts in the coming years too.
Teams are always cautious of allocating too many resources to one position group and given the investment of multiple first-round picks along the defensive line, trying to keep all of that talent in the building was always going to be hard. Payne felt like the one most likely to be allowed to leave, but his play this season might just have the Commanders reconsidering that.
Much like Allen a few years ago before his contract extension, Payne has taken significant steps forward this season. While he’s not quite at the level Allen is, he has still developed into one of the better defensive tackles in the NFL and one that I believe the Commanders should be doing their best to extend this offseason. Let me break down why.
Run defense
Payne has always been an outstanding run defender. At Alabama, he was excellent at the point of attack and could hold his position while withstanding double teams, allowing linebackers to roam freely. He’s still very much capable of playing in that manner now.
This play is a good example of the type of run defense Payne was taught to produce at Alabama. The right guard and right tackle combine to double team Payne, hoping to drive him back towards the linebacker before one of them can peel off and pick up the linebacker. However, Payne anticipates the double team and shows great strength and technique, getting both hands on the chest of the guard while dropping down to one knee to help absorb the impact of the right tackle. This enables Payne to hold his position while staying engaged in the block with the guard. With Payne unmoved, the guard and tackle have to continue trying to block him, which leaves linebacker Jon Bostic completely free to run right through the heart of the offense and make the tackle on the running back.
That style of run defense has always been something Payne has been good at, but in recent years he’s become much more effective in adding variety to his game. Since Ron Rivera took over as Head Coach of the Commanders, he’s installed a much more attacking one-gap style of defense, which asks the defensive lineman to be more aggressive in trying to penetrate rather than just holding their spots and occupying blockers. It’s taken some time for all the defensive lineman to get used to this style, but over the last year or so, Payne has shown he can be a disruptive force.
This is another play from that same game against the Falcons. The Falcons are a team that likes to run a lot of outside zone concepts and one of the best ways to beat that is using stunts to mess with the blocking scheme and create penetration. On this play, the Falcons run an outside zone scheme to their right. Payne aligns to that side, over the outside shoulder of the right guard. However, off the snap you’ll see Payne stunts inside the right guard and into the A gap between the right guard and center.
Straight away, the stunt causes issues for the offense. The guard expects to block Payne on his outside shoulder, so is surprised when Payne attacks the inside shoulder. With Payne stunting inside, the center and guard have to swap roles, with the center becoming responsible for Payne while the guard works up to the second level. Once Payne stunts, the guard has to try and pass him off inside and work up to the second level to block a linebacker. However, because Payne is so quick, the center can’t get across quickly enough to cut him off. Payne bursts through the line and into the backfield, where he brings down the runner for a loss.
As I mentioned, it’s taken Payne a while to get used to this more aggressive play style of attacking and penetrating instead of holding his position and clogging run lanes. But you can see clearly this season that the mindset has changed and this new, more attacking style has bedded in.
On this play, the Cowboys look to run a counter scheme to their right. The left guard pulls to the right side to kick out the edge defender while the tight end follows behind to wrap around for the linebacker. To enable this to happen, the right side of the line has to block down on the defensive line and wash them out of the play. This means right guard Zack Martin, one of the best guards in the NFL for a number of years now, has to block down on Payne and pin him inside.
In the past, Payne would have played this drastically differently. He probably would have looked to hold his spot, get under Martin and try to stack him up to prevent himself getting washed down the line and out of the play. But on this occasion, he sees it as an opportunity to get up the field and penetrate. With the left guard pulling, Payne knows the center has to slide across to cut off the vacated gap to block Jonathan Allen, which means there will be no help for Martin inside. He immediately attacks up the field and Martin can’t get across quickly enough to cut him off. He penetrates into the backfield and makes another tackle on the running back for a significant loss.
Payne has been a terrific run defender since he entered the league, but in the last year or so, he’s added another dimension to his run defense which means he can now just about do it all. He can line up straight over the center and two-gap as he did at Alabama in college and his first few years in the NFL, but he can also slide down the line and look to be more of a disruptive force by penetrating into the backfield. He’s a complete run defender now that when paired with Allen, gives the Commanders an extremely stout and versatile interior defensive line that can stop the run in a variety of different ways.
Pass rush
Payne entered the NFL with some hype and hope around his potential as an interior pass rusher. While he hadn’t necessarily been a prolific pass rusher in college, he flashed the potential to take over games when he got it right, especially in bowl games. His first step quickness for a man with his size and strength was an enticing prospect. Now, he hasn’t quite fulfilled that potential as a pass rusher just yet, but he’s taken significant steps forward this year in that regard, which has led to him having a career year in terms of sacks.
Part of his development has come as a result of that mindset change I talked about with his run defense. He’s looking to be more disruptive and penetrative as a habit off the snap, rather than having to pause to read if the play is a run or a pass. This means when the offense is passing, Payne can more naturally get into his rush much quicker than before.
But on top of that, Payne has also shown a variety of different rush moves this season that when combined with his quickness have enabled him to get to the quarterback more consistently.
Here against the Vikings, Payne aligns slightly wider than normal. Instead of being on the outside shoulder of the right guard, he’s almost head up over the right tackle. This is by design. The Commanders identified the right guard as a weak spot in this game and wanted Payne to get after him whenever he could. By taking this wider alignment, Payne has a better angle to the quarterback if he attacks the outside shoulder of the guard. With that in mind, the guard is naturally going to try and compensate for that angle by sliding across as quickly as possible to cut off that angle.
Payne anticipates the guard’s reaction to his alignment. He initially takes a step or two up the field to force the guard to commit before then shifting to an inside rush. He uses his right hand to club the inside shoulder of the guard, shoving him even further outside before then using a swim move with his left arm to break free of the block and into the backfield. From there, the guard attempts to recover but Payne quickly closes on the quarterback for the sack.
Payne had a similar situation against the Giants just last week, but showed he has more than one move to go to.
This time it’s not quite as obvious a passing situation, with the Giants using a run-heavy personnel. Payne’s alignment isn’t quite as wide as a result, but he’s still more on the inside shoulder of the tackle than the outside shoulder of the guard. Because of this alignment, the guard again looks to widen off the snap to cut off any rush to the edge. Payne reads the guard and spots the big lane opening up inside. This time though, he uses a different move. Instead of a club and swim combination, Payne uses a two-hand swipe as he shifts inside, clearing the hands of the guard. He then dips his shoulder and uses his left arm to rip through, keeping the guard from recovering and resetting his hands. Payne bursts into the backfield and again manages to bring down the quarterback for the sack.
I still feel as though there’s plenty more potential as a pass rusher to come from Payne. He’s not the consistently dominant force that Allen is in that regard, but Allen is a few years ahead of him in the development curve. If you look back at Allen’s play before earning his big contract, it’s not too dissimilar to where Payne is now. He took big strides in 2020, earning his contract in the summer of 2021 and since then has taken even more steps forward to the point where he is now rightfully considered one of the top five defensive tackles in the NFL. I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see Payne follow that exact same path, which should be enough to convince the Commanders to do everything they can to keep him.
And for anyone worried that he’s just playing better as he’s in a contract year and will drop off after getting paid, I’d point you to the final section of this post.
Effort and awareness
One thing that has consistently stood out to me with Payne throughout his time in Washington is his effort and his awareness. Let’s start with his effort. There are times as a defensive lineman when a move doesn’t work or an offensive lineman just happens to have the right counter and gets the better of you. It happens to everyone. But when it happens to Payne, he doesn’t just give up on the play. He plays to the whistle and looks for any other way he can impact the play if his rush doesn’t quite work.
On this play, the Colts face a third and five situation. Payne aligns over the outside shoulder of the right guard, but as the play develops his rush doesn’t quite work. He looks to get inside of the guard, but the center is there to slide across and help out. Payne does manage to occupy both the center and guard, giving the rest of the defensive line one-on-one rushes, but he gets little pressure himself. With two blockers on him, Payne recognizes he’s unlikely to get pressure himself, so he peels off and reevaluates the situation. He keeps his eyes on the quarterback, knowing he likes to scramble. With the other rushers working one-on-one, the quarterback feels some pressure and begins to step up and out of the pocket.
When an athletic quarterback starts scrambling, a lot of defensive lineman will give up on trying to catch him or feign an attempt before pulling up. Payne doesn’t do that. He follows the quarterback as he takes off and chases him down the field. His efforts are rewarded as he assists in the tackle that brings the quarterback down just short of the first down marker and saving the third down conversion.
On top of his effort, Payne has terrific football awareness. Some defensive lineman get so focused on their pass rush and trying different ways to beat their blocker that they don’t take notice of the game situation and how the offense might try and use their attacking nature against them.
The Texans have a third and long situation here. It would be easy for a defensive lineman to think it’s an obvious passing situation and therefore it’s time to focus purely on rushing. But Payne is more aware than that. He knows in a third and long situation like these, teams will often try something different if they’re worried about the pass rush. Here, the Texans call a screen to the running back, trying to bait the defensive line up the field before throwing over them. But Payne doesn’t fall for the bait. In fact, off the snap, Payne doesn’t charge up the field and engage with his blocker. Instead, his eyes go to the running back, anticipating the potential screen. Once the back starts to slide out to the flat, Payne follows him. He doesn’t quite manage to make the tackle, but he does enough to delay the back from getting out in space and building up speed, which allows the rest of the defense to rally down to the ball and make the tackle.
The other aspect of Payne’s game that shows great awareness is his ability to deflect passes at the line of scrimmage. He’s fantastic and spotting throws and getting his hands up in passing lanes to break up passes or at least deflect them off target.
As I said earlier, sometimes a pass rush move doesn’t quite come off for a defensive lineman, but Payne is never one to give up on a play. When a rush doesn’t quite for for him, he’s always looking to impact the play. The first few plays of this clip show the initial rush not quite working but Payne staying in the play and reading the quarterback looking for the throw. As soon as the quarterback begins his throwing motion, Payne gets his hands up and blocks the pass. There are a few plays in this clip where the rush isn’t exactly bad, but the ball is coming out quickly by design and Payne is still aware enough to spot the throw while being engaged in a block and get his hands up to tip the pass.
The final play of the clip shows just why this kind of play is so important. Sacks are too heavily weighted when talking about defensive lineman play, but the play Payne makes on the final part of this clip was more important than a sack. The Falcons were driving down the field late in the game with a good chance of winning the game, but Payne spots a throw while engaged in a block and gets his hand up to tip the pass. Not only does he save a potential touchdown with the deflection, the ball happens to bounce up in the air for Kendall Fuller to charge down and make a play on. Fuller comes away with the interception that ends up sealing the win for the Commanders and it was all caused by Payne’s awareness to get his hand up in the passing lane.
Overall Payne has taken a big stride forward in his development this year. He’s become an even more versatile run defender despite already being excellent in that regard. His pass rush is improving with his new attacking mindset, and he still has room to grow further. He also brings great effort and awareness to the field, meaning he can impact the game in multiple ways. There’s always risks with giving out big contracts, especially when the Commanders already have one big contract at the same position with Jonathan Allen. But Payne has earned his payday and together with Allen, the pair have been the foundation on which this defense has been built and found success this season.
Nearly two years ago, I wrote a similar piece on why Jonathan Allen deserved an extension and eventually a deal got down. It may well lead to tougher decisions down the line with other defensive line contracts, but for me, I would find a way to get a deal done and keep Payne partnered with Allen at the heart of the defensive line for years to come.