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The Washington Commanders are looking energized before the 2026 season. Washington only won five games during the 2025 season, in part due to Jayden Daniels’ season-ending elbow injury. Washington needs to lean on their veteran talent if they want to get back to the postseason in 2026. One of those veterans will have some extra motivation to have a breakout season.
The Commanders will face a big contract decision around Daron Payne at some point over the next calendar year. However, it appears that Payne will not get a new contract until after the 2026 season.
“General manager Adam Peters made it clear early in the offseason that the only contract extension the Commanders would negotiate was with left tackle Laremy Tunsil,” ESPN’s John Keim wrote on Wednesday. “But Payne, entering the final year of his contract, has been a fixture on Washington’s front since joining the team as a first-round pick in 2018.”
The 29-year-old defensive tackle has been a fixture in Washington since the 2018 season. He is in the final year of a four-year, $90 million contract that he signed back in 2023.
Keim explained that Washington wants to see how Payne performs in Daronte Jones’ new defensive scheme.
“Peters said they’d focus on his contract after the 2026 season because the staff and front office want to see how he fits in new coordinator Daronte Jones’ defense, which uses a 3-4 base instead of the four-man front of the past,” Keim added. “Payne just turned 29 and will have a cap hit of $27.9 million.”
Keim added that the last time Payne played in a 3-4 defense, he had a career-best 11.5 sacks on the season. If Payne can return to have form again, it would be a game changer for Washington’s defense.
Ultimately, it sounds like waiting until the spring could work out for both Payne and the Commanders.
The post Why Commanders are waiting until after 2026 to talk Daron Payne contract extension appeared first on ClutchPoints.
