Franchise tag for Daron Payne? Commanders ‘working through’ plan to retain defensive tackle

ASHBURN — A year ago at his season-ending press conference, Martin Mayhew set the stage for guard Brandon Scherff’s eventual departure from the Washington Commanders. The general manager expressed frustration about the lack of progress in negotiations, telling reporters that the “team made every effort to get something done.” 

This year, Mayhew was much more diplomatic regarding Daron Payne. 

Mayhew said Tuesday that the Commanders are “working through” their options for the star defensive tackle — whose contract is set to expire in March after a career year.  Those possibilities include using the franchise tag, which Mayhew didn’t immediately dismiss when asked about. 

“We have a plan,” Mayhew said of Payne, “and we definitely want to get him back.” 

The Commanders are well familiar with the franchise tag, which allows teams to keep players on a one-year contract worth typically an average of the top five highest-paid players at their position. The team used the tag twice on quarterback Kirk Cousins and Scherff — before those players left to secure long-term contracts with the Minnesota Vikings and Jacksonville Jaguars. 

According to Over The Cap, defensive tackles who are given the tag would be projected to earn $18.9 million in 2023. 

That would be a sizable raise for Payne — who made $8.5 million in 2022 — but would lack the long-term security that players tend to seek when on the verge of free agency.

“I just want what I earned,” Payne said.

If Payne hits the open market, he’s likely to earn a lot. Even in a loaded class of defensive tackles — Philadelphia’s Javon Hargrave and Minnesota’s Dalvin Tomlinson are also set to be free agents — Payne would be one of the top names available at his position. The 25-year-old is coming off the most productive season of his career as he finished with 11½ sacks — the most in Washington since Dave Butz in 1983. 

The Commanders’ pursuit of retaining Payne is complicated by the fact that the team has already invested significantly in teammate Jonathan Allen — who is the league’s fifth-highest-paid defensive tackle after he signed a four-year, $72 million contract in 2021. Teams rarely pay top-10 money to two players at the same position, especially for interior defensive linemen.

Payne and Allen are also two of four first-rounders along Washington’s defensive line. Edge rusher Montez Sweat is heading into the last year of his contract in 2023, while the team faces a May deadline of picking up 2020 first-rounder Chase Young’s fifth-year option.  With Allen paid, it’s unlikely that the three others will all be retained past their rookie deals.

Last year, the Commanders seemed to be bracing for Payne’s possible departure. The team did not engage in negotiations about an extension with the 2018 first-rounder and in April, used a second-round draft pick on Alabama defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis. 

Mathis, however, suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 1. Therefore, the Commanders were unable to get a full evaluation regarding whether he’d be a suitable replacement for Payne.

During Tuesday’s press conference, coach Ron Rivera shrugged off a question about the team’s choice to not sign Payne to an extension last offseason. “Hindsight,” the coach said. 

Rivera has said that Allen and Payne are a tandem that “you want to keep.” But asked Tuesday whether the franchise tag was a possibility for Payne, the coach deferred to Mayhew. 

“We’re working through that process now,” Mayhew said. “Obviously Daron is an important part of what we’re doing. … This was the first year he really was finishing the way that he finished this year, so he played outstanding football for us. 

“It’d be difficult, to move forward without him, obviously.”