Washington Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne's cap number is $28 million in 2026, so he will surely be released.
One would think, and several of us have been thinking this for some time. However, Ben Standig reported Monday that his source tells him that is not where the Commanders are presently leaning. Payne is scheduled to be the sixth-highest paid defensive tackle next season, and frankly, might there have been 26 defensive tackles who played better last year?
At times, that is certainly fair to say, as Payne disappeared in some games. Yet there was Payne at the end of the season, ranked in the top ten in defensive tackle run-stop rates. It was really surprising.
Many of us following the team never dreamed Payne would be around to collect that money next season. It seemed to be a conclusion that the logical thing for the Commanders to do was take the dead cap hit of $11M next year by simply releasing Payne. Can you imagine someone actually trading a draft pick for Payne and then paying him that $28M? Consequently, many went into this offseason anticipating Payne would be released.
Why would the Commanders decide to pay Payne $28M when they could save $17M by releasing Payne and signing someone else with that money? In the first two seasons of GM Adam Peters' era, Peters has signed one defensive end (Dorance Armstrong) and one defensive tackle (Javon Kinlaw) to three-year contracts. Is it possible that Peters is not being permitted to spend the cap space available? After all, $6 billion is a truly huge amount of money to pay for a team.
The other two defensive tackles who played most in 2025 were Jer'Zhan Newton (2024 draft) and Kinlaw. Both of those tackles have two years remaining on their present contracts. Perhaps the defensive cupboard is so bare that the Commanders are actually going to keep Payne rather than free up their cap space this offseason?
Payne accomplished 11.5 sacks in 2022; yet, only missing two games total the last three seasons, Payne has only collected 11.0 sacks. It is no secret Payne's best season was his 2022 season when he was playing for a new contract.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: What is Daron Payne's future for 2026?
