The Raiders went into the offseason determined to fix a defense that needed help, and general manager John Spytek attacked the job on multiple fronts. Free agency and the draft both played a part in reshaping the unit for the 2026 season, but the pass rush still looms as the biggest question. One of the answers was Kwity Paye.
That move comes with some baggage, though. Paye arrived in Las Vegas as the 21st overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, a player with real talent but also a résumé that hasn’t quite matched the price the Raiders are paying. The team is on the hook for nearly $16 million a year, and that number looks steep for production that has been solid without ever really popping.
Paye’s best season came in 2023, when he started all 16 regular-season games for the Colts and finished with 8.5 sacks, 32 solo tackles, nine QB hits and two forced fumbles. He has never reached double-digit sacks in any season so far, and last year brought a noticeable dip across the board. His tackles for loss dropped to six, down from 10 in 2024, and the overall production slid in several key categories.
The Colts’ own outlook on the situation says plenty. Indianapolis, which originally drafted Paye, is projecting Arden Key to be a better fit this season than Paye would have been.
So the Raiders are left with a familiar offseason dilemma: did they pay for more than they got? Maybe.
Or maybe this is the kind of move a 3-14 team has to make when it’s trying to accelerate a rebuild. For now, the real answer depends on how new defensive coordinator Rob Leonard uses Paye and whether he can squeeze more out of him than Indianapolis did.
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Maxx Crosby has noticed the dynamic, and he made it clear the Raiders are paying attention to more than arm talent or draft pedigree. For Crosby, the bigger test for Mendoza is whether he can carry himself in a way that feels natural to teammates, because in the NFL, leadership is earned long before it is declared. With Cousins also in the mix as a possible Week 1 option, the rookies early challenge is as much about credibility and trust as it is about the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]