Player
Daron Payne
DT · Commanders
Daron Payne: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
39.0 career sacks across 8 seasons — all with Washington, a rare one-team interior career.
TrendPayne by season (regular season)
| Season | Sacks | QB Hits | TFL | Tackles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 5.0 | 8 | 6 | 47 |
| 2019 | 2.0 | 4 | 3 | 54 |
| 2020 | 5.0 | 11 | 9 | 57 |
| 2021 | 4.5 | 15 | 6 | 54 |
| 2022 | 11.5 | 20 | 18 | 59 |
| 2023 | 4.0 | 11 | 13 | 46 |
| 2024 | 4.0 | 8 | 5 | 42 |
| 2025 | 3.0 | 8 | 7 | 45 |
Payne is one of the league's true single-team careers — 8 seasons, all in Washington (Redskins / Football Team / Commanders). He's the 13th overall pick of 2018, and he's never played a down for any other franchise.
His sack arc is dominated by 2022's 11.5-sack explosion — a contract-year season that nearly tripled his prior career high. Every other year he's been in the 3.0-5.0 sack range — a steady interior 3-tech baseline.
Sacks per season
| Season | Sacks |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 5 |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | 5 |
| 2021 | 4.5 |
| 2022 | 11.5 |
| 2023 | 4 |
| 2024 | 4 |
| 2025 | 3 |
2022 was a complete outlier: 11.5 sacks, 20 QB hits, 18 TFL — all career highs by wide margins.
AnomalyPayne 2022 vs every other career season
| Stat | 2022 | Best other season |
|---|---|---|
| Sacks | 11.5 | 5.0 (2018, 2020) |
| QB Hits | 20 | 15 (2021) |
| TFL | 18 | 13 (2023) |
| Combined Tackles | 59 | 57 (2020) |
Payne's 2022 season was a complete outlier — his sack total was 130% better than his next-best year. The contract-year jump landed him a 4-year, $90M extension, and the production has come back to his career baseline (4.0 sacks per year since).
In the 2022 DT/DL sack leaderboard, Payne ranked 10th in the entire NFL at 11.5 sacks — sandwiched between Quinnen Williams (12.0) and Javon Hargrave (12.0). It put him in elite interior-rusher company for one year.
404 career tackles for a DT — top-tier run-stopping volume across 8 seasons.
MilestonePayne career resume
| Stat | Career |
|---|---|
| Sacks | 39.0 |
| QB Hits | 85 |
| TFL | 67 |
| Solo Tackles | 204 |
| Asst Tackles | 200 |
| Combined | 404 |
| Pass Defenses | 25 |
| Forced Fumbles | 8 |
| Fumble Recoveries | 6 |
The 404 combined tackles is exceptional for an interior defensive tackle — the volume is more linebacker-shaped than DT-shaped. Combined with his 8 forced fumbles and 25 pass defenses, Payne's full resume reads like a complete two-way DT.
His 67 career TFL is the run-defense signature. In 2022 alone he had 18 TFL — among the highest single-season TFL totals at the position in the last decade.
Drafted Alabama → Washington 2018, still in Washington in 2025 — 8 consecutive seasons in the same franchise.
RarePayne is one of a shrinking group of 8-year same-team careers among interior linemen drafted in his class. He came in alongside Jonathan Allen (same draft class, same defensive line) and the two anchored Washington's defensive front for the entire post-Redskins transition era — playing under the Redskins, the Washington Football Team, and now the Commanders.
Dan Quinn's arrival in 2024 made him a centerpiece again — he started every game of the 2024 NFC Championship season and has been the defensive-line anchor of Washington's rebuild.
Pre-extension (2018-2022): 28.0 sacks. Post-extension (2023-2025): 11.0 sacks.
SplitEra split — pre-megadeal vs post-megadeal
| Era | Seasons | Sacks | Sacks/yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-extension (2018-2022) | 5 | 28.0 | 5.6 |
| Post-extension (2023-2025) | 3 | 11.0 | 3.7 |
The classic contract-curve case: Payne hit 5.6 sacks/year on his rookie deal and franchise tag, then signed a $90M extension after his 2022 outlier and has averaged 3.7 sacks/year since.
It's not a full collapse — the TFL count (13 in 2023, 5 in 2024, 7 in 2025) shows he's still disruptive against the run — but the sack pop that made him a top-10 DT in 2022 hasn't returned.
FanIQ answers any NFL stats question with receipts, on your phone.
Get FanIQ freeGet it on Google Play