Commanders' Daron Payne Takes On New Role Amid Major Change

The Washington Commanders gave emerged as a title contender after some fantastic play from quarterback Jayden Daniels in his rookie season. But the defensive side of the ball won't be the same.

Back at the beginning of March, the team decided to release their star defensive lineman, Jonathan Allen, after they were unable to find a trade partner for him. As a result, someone will have to step up in his place.

The prime candidate to do that is veteran defensive tackle Daron Payne. And in a recent article by ESPN's John Keim, he thinks that he can do just that.

"Payne's contract was an issue in 2022, but he recorded a career-high 11.5 sacks and earned a four-year extension worth up to $90 million," Keim wrote. "Multiple people in the organization singled him out during OTA work, also saying he appears more relaxed and a little more outgoing."

Allen has been one of the leaders of the Commanders' defense for just under a decade, so losing him is not going to be an easy thing to recover from. But Payne is looking to make that transition as smooth as possible.

The 28-year-old defensive tackle has finished with four sacks each of the last two seasons, but that does not mean that he cannot get to the quarterback. Just a few seasons ago in 2022, Payne had 11.5 sacks, which placed him 12th in the entire NFL at the time.

The Commanders have taken a lot of pride in their defense over the last several seasons, and Payne will be looking to make sure that does not change in 2025.