2026 NFL free agency is almost upon us, and that means just a few more weeks until the Indianapolis Colts likely make a lot of roster changes. Will quarterback Daniel Jones return? That isn't known yet, and neither is the return of wide receiver Alec Pierce.
One player the team shouldn't worry about bringing back is edge rusher Kwity Paye. He seemingly had reached his ceiling as far as production in his second and third years, but this season, he suffered a precipitous drop. Whether he was a bad fit in defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo's system or simply did not have a good year isn't clear.
Either way, Anarumo isn't leaving, and Paye has proven not to be a transformative player, so paying him to come back would be foolish. This is especially true as Spotrac projects the edge rusher's next contract to pay him as much as $18 million a season. That would be a massive overpay.
Indianapolis Colts shouldn't re-sign 2021 first-round pick Kwity Paye
Paye was a first-round draft pick in 2021, and the Colts picked up his fifth-year option for 2025. That turned out to be a mistake, too. He got paid $13.4 million to underperform.
In 2025, Paye had four sacks (his lowest since his rookie season), nine quarterback hits (tied for the lowest of his career), and just six tackles for loss (the second-lowest of his career). He also whiffed on 15.4 percent of his tackle attempts, a terrible number for a defensive end. He was also just meh against the run.
At his best, Paye can get a team as many as eight sacks, a solid but not elite number, and slightly less than 40 pressures in a season. Those are not the kind of numbers that should warrant nearly $20 million a season from Indianapolis, especially as the team needs to direct its cash to Pierce and Jones.
Instead, as Indy needs to rebuild its edge rush group, general manager Chris Ballard should focus on signing players such as the Seattle Seahawks' Boye Mafe. Mafe had just two sacks in 2025, but that number is misleading. He was eighth in pass-rush win-rate, according to ESPN, and is exceedingly good against the run.
Mafe is the kind of well-rounded edge rusher that will make letting Kwty Paye leave easy. Maybe Paye finds greater success elsewhere, but that obviously isn't going to happen with the Indianapolis Colts. He simply turned out to be a first-round mistake.