Commanders Trade Ideas on Daron Payne: His Final Game in Washington?

A natural response from other NFL teams? They call the Commanders and make inquiries about Daron Payne's trade-block availability.

It is an NFL open secret now: The Washington Commanders front office does not know exactly what to do about its "good problem to have'' in Daron Payne.

Sign him to an extension? Much of that available money has been eaten up elsewhere. Lose him via free agency this offseason and take the compensatory pick? Maybe, but it'd be nice to get something more than that for such a talent.

Trade him now for that "something more''?

When wide receiver Terry McLaurin and the Commanders agreed on a three-year contract extension worth upwards of $71 million, it became clear that defensive tackle Payne might have to play out the final year of his contract. ...

Unless Washington opted to trade him.

As coach Ron Rivera said just before Payne stayed on the sideline during some offseason OTA work: “When you (pay) a veteran quarterback (as Washington did with newly acquired Carson Wentz), it’s going to impact your salary cap and how you respond to it ... It’s a difficult thing. You try to figure out the best way to be able to pay players, and sometimes you can’t do it right away.

"And so that’s kind of the situation we’re in right now (with Payne) is we’re trying to take care of certain other things as well, as we go forward, and we’ll see how we can adjust to it. Who knows what happens after that.”

A natural response from other NFL teams? They call the Commanders and make inquiries about his trade-block availability.

On the eve of the Nov. 1 NFL trade deadline, The Athletic writes, "People with knowledge of the Payne market believe a 2023 second-round pick is possible trade compensation.''

The former first-rounder Payne has been a 320-pound force this year for the 3-4 Commanders, and a mid-round compensatory pick seems a poor consolation prize. ... which in the coming hours - with Sunday's game against the Colts a possible final showcase - will force Washington to be even more open about its open secret.

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