Commanders Using Franchise Tag to Sign Daron Payne This Offseason?

Daron Payne is set to be one of the best free agents on the market this offseason. And the Washington Commanders would love to keep him home.

Jeremy Brener | Jan 11, 2023

The Washington Commanders have a big decision to make this offseason on defensive tackle Daron Payne.

Arguably the biggest in-house free agent, Payne enjoyed his best season in the NFL with 11.5 sacks. But as a free agent, Payne can sign with any of the 32 teams in the league ... but the Commanders can negate all of that by using the franchise tag to ink him to a one-year deal. And that's an avenue the Commanders are considering.

"We're working through that process now, obviously Daron is an important part of what we're doing," general manager Martin Mayhew said. "It'd be difficult to move forward without him, obviously. We have a plan and we definitely wanna get him back.”

The Commanders drafted fellow Crimson Tide alumni Phidarian Mathis in the second round last season as a potential replacement for Payne, but he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1.

That opened the door for Payne to have a massive season, and the Commanders are interested in re-signing him. That being said, his price may not fit the Commanders' price range, as the team also needs to set aside money for other players on the defensive line in subsequent years like Montez Sweat and Chase Young.

That could lead the Commanders to use the franchise tag on Payne, which could be worth around $19 million.

However, with the Commanders essentially "a quarterback away" from taking the next step towards contention, keeping the rest of the team on board is also very important.

And Payne is the biggest piece to the puzzle in that process.

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Published Jan 11, 2023

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.