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Tackles:	362
Sacks:	31.5
Forced fumbles:	6
Fumble recoveries:	6
Pass deflections:	18
Interceptions:	1
	Stats at Pro Football Reference

Daron Payne
	Payne with the Commanders in 2022
No. 94 – Washington Commanders
Position:	Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born:	May 27, 1997 (age 27); Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Height:	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:	320 lb (145 kg)
Career information
High school:	Shades Valley (Irondale, Alabama)
College:	Alabama (2015–2017)
NFL draft:	2018 / round: 1 / pick: 13
Career history
	Washington Redskins / Football Team / Commanders (2018–present);
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
	Pro Bowl (2022); PFWA All-Rookie Team (2018); 2× CFP national champion (2015, 2017); CFP national championship defensive MVP (2018); Freshman All-American (2015); First-team All-SEC (2017);
Career NFL statistics as of Week 9, 2024
Tackles:
Tackles:	362
Sacks:	31.5
Forced fumbles:	6
Fumble recoveries:	6
Pass deflections:	18
Interceptions:	1
	Stats at Pro Football Reference

Daron Payne (/dəˈrɒn/ də-RON; born May 27, 1997) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he won national championships in 2015 and 2017. Payne was selected by Washington in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft.

Early life

Payne was born on May 27, 1997, in Birmingham, Alabama. He attended Shades Valley High School in Irondale, Alabama, where he played football.^[1] He was rated as a five-star recruit and committed to the University of Alabama to play college football.^[2]

College career

As a true freshman at Alabama in 2015, Payne had 13 tackles and half a sack.^[3] As a sophomore in 2016, he had 36 tackles and 1.5 sacks.^[4]^[5] In the National Championship Game against Clemson, he recorded five tackles and a half sack.^[6]

As a junior in 2017, Payne was named the defensive MVP of both postseason games that Alabama played.^[7]^[8] In the Sugar Bowl versus Clemson, he intercepted a ball and scored an offensive receiving touchdown on the resulting drive. In the National Championship Game against Georgia, Payne had six tackles to help lead Alabama to their second national championship in three seasons.^[9] After his junior year, Payne declared his intentions to enter the 2018 NFL draft.^[9] During his time at Alabama, Payne's given name was commonly misspelled as Da'Ron, which he requested to change back to Daron for his professional career.^[10]^[11]

College statistics
Season	GP	Tackles					Interceptions					Fumbles
Season	GP	Solo	Ast	Cmb	TfL	Sck	Int	Yds	Avg	TD	PD	FR	FF	TD
2015	8	6	7	13	0.5	0.5	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
2016	13	12	24	36	3.5	1.5	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1
2017	14	21	32	53	1	1	1	21	21	0	3	1	0	0
Career	35	39	63	102	5	3	1	21	21	0	5	2	1	1

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height	Weight	Arm length	Hand span	40-yard dash	10-yard split	20-yard split	20-yard shuttle	Three-cone drill	Vertical jump	Broad jump	Bench press
6 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1.89 m)	311 lb (141 kg)	33 in (0.84 m)	9+3⁄8 in (0.24 m)	4.95 s	1.67 s	2.84 s	4.71 s	7.58 s	28.5 in (0.72 m)	8 ft 11 in (2.72 m)	27 reps
All values from NFL Combine^[12]^[13]

Payne was selected by the Washington Redskins in the first round (13th overall) of the 2018 NFL draft.^[14]^[15] On May 10, 2018, Payne signed a four-year contract worth US$14.4 million featuring a $8.56 million signing bonus.^[16] He recorded his first career sack in Week 3 against the Green Bay Packers.^[17] He finished his rookie season with 56 tackles, five sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery, and was named to the 2018 PFWA All-Rookie Team as a result.^[18]

In Week 14 of the 2020 season against the San Francisco 49ers, Payne forced a fumble on quarterback Nick Mullens, which was recovered and returned for a touchdown by Chase Young and would also recover a forced fumble by Young.^[19] In Week 15 against the Seattle Seahawks, Payne recorded his first career interception off a pass thrown by Russell Wilson during the 20–15 loss.^[20] Payne finished the 2020 NFL season playing 880 snaps and recording 54 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and an interception. He also recorded two sacks against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round of the playoffs.^[21]

The team exercised the fifth-year option on Payne's contract on April 27, 2021,^[22] which guarantees a salary of $8.529 million for the 2022 season.^[23] He was added to the COVID-19 reserve list on August 1, 2021,^[24] before being re-activated on August 5.^[25] Payne and defensive end James Smith-Williams sealed the Week 11 win over the Carolina Panthers after they sacked quarterback Cam Newton on fourth down with less than a minute and a half left in the game.^[26]

By Week 9 of the 2022 season, Payne accumulated a new career-high of 5.5 sacks.^[27] With 58 seconds remaining in the Week 12 game against the Atlanta Falcons, he deflected a touchdown pass attempt from Marcus Mariota which cornerback Kendall Fuller intercepted in the end zone in a 19–13 win.^[28] He finished the season having set new career highs with 64 tackles, 11.5 sacks, and five pass deflections.^[29] In January 2023, Payne was named as a replacement player for Aaron Donald to the 2023 Pro Bowl, his first Pro Bowl.^[30]

The Commanders placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on Payne before him signing a four-year, $90 million extension with the team on March 13, 2023.^[31]^[32]

NFL career statistics

Legend
Bold	Career high

Year	Team	Games		Tackles					Fumbles				Interceptions
Year	Team	GP	GS	Cmb	Solo	Ast	Sck	Sfty	FF	FR	Yds	TD	PD	Int	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD
2018	WAS	16	16	56	35	21	5.0	0	1	1	9	0	3	0	0	0.0	0	0
2019	WAS	15	9	56	32	24	2.0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0.0	0	0
2020	WAS	16	16	54	27	27	3.0	0	3	1	0	0	4	0	0	0.0	0	0
2021	WAS	17	17	61	35	26	4.5	0	0	1	6	0	0	1	0	0.0	0	0
2022	WAS	17	17	64	32	32	11.5	0	0	1	0	0	5	0	0	0.0	0	0
2023	WAS	17	17	53	32	21	4.0	0	2	2	0	0	4	0	0	0.0	0	0
Career		98	92	344	193	151	30.0	0	6	6	15	0	18	1	0	0.0	0	0