Daron Payne wants to be paid like an elite defensive lineman in the NFL, but he's forgotten the part where he actually has to play like one.
Payne was anything but top-tier in the brutal Week 2 defeat the Washington Commanders suffered at the hands of NFC East rivals the Dallas Cowboys.
It was a game he was supposed to dominate, but Payne rarely got to grips with an injury-hit offensive line at AT&T Stadium. He appeared soft against the run and didn't push the pocket enough to so much as slightly unnerve Cowboys' quarterback Dak Prescott.
Daron Payne is not producing when it counts for the Commanders
Payne's absent-minded act is leaving the Commanders short of a difference-maker up front.
Lacking one of those is having a damaging ripple effect across a revamped, still-struggling defense.
Overhauling a failing defense cost the Commanders more than a pretty penny this offseason. General manager Adam Peters splashed the cash, and most of it went on edge rushers Odafe Oweh and K'Lavon Chaisson.
They're getting paid to be the bookends for new coordinator Daronte Jones' 3-4 front, but the Commanders forgot something more important. They forgot that all productive edge rushers benefit from the talent around them.
Oweh and Chaisson are living proof of this simple truth. They're both one-season wonders whose production went from zero to hero status only once they were surrounded by game-wreckers.
For Chaisson, this meant cashing in on a breakout 2025 season with the New England Patriots. A 10.5-sack campaign made possible by the attention paid to fearsome defensive tackles Christian Barmore and Milton Williams.
Daron Payne's inconsistency is having a ripple effect on others
Oweh was similarly blessed after being traded from the Baltimore Ravens to the Los Angeles Chargers last October. He subsequently logged 10.5 sacks in 13 games, including playoffs, playing on a Bolts' D-line featuring the great Khalil Mack and massive tackles Teair Tart and Da'Shawn Hand.
Payne's supposed to be laying the table for Oweh and Chaisson the same way.
His failure to do so means there's not enough pressure to protect a feeble Washington secondary populated by coverage liabilities who continued getting torched by Prescott and his receivers.
There's a lot to be worried about with Payne's recent performances. Yet, what's most concerning is the perceived lack of effort evident in some of No. 94's reps.
Payne was called out on social media during an attempt to chase down Prescott on the Cowboys' opening drive. Unfortunately, most of his 37 snaps were still to follow. He hardly made a dent on any of those, despite the Cowboys missing injured three-time Pro Bowl guard Tyler Smith.
The 2018 first-round pick out of Alabama instead found himself upstaged by fellow interior defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw. The latter's early exit with a shoulder injury sadly leaves the Commanders further reliant on the underperforming Payne.
The stage in Dallas was set for Payne to send the Commanders a message about his enduring talent and resultant market value.
Instead, all he did was offer concrete proof of why he shouldn't be paid.
Payne also showed why the Commanders have been dormant defensively for too long, because big names don't play up to their billing.
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