Maybe all Kwity Paye needed to prove he was worthy of being a first-round draft pick was to get out of playing with the Indianapolis Colts. Paye signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency this offseason and was terrific in Week 1, while his old team in Indy was atrocious.
Indianapolis was quick to give up on Paye, who signed a three-year deal worth as much as $48 million with Vegas, and replaced him with veteran Arden Key. Key wasn't as bad as his teammates in Week 1, but the team would have had the money to keep Paye and add Key to form a solid edge-rush trio with Laiatu Latu.
General manager Chris Ballard seems bent on the idea that a team only needs two productive edge rushers, while other, more successful, teams have three or four. Ballard could have extended Paye but decided not to for whatever reason.
Former Indianapolis Colts edge ruser Kwity Paye was a star for the Raiders in Week 1
In Week 1, the Raiders defeated the Miami Dolphins 27-13, and Paye had two sacks, two tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, and six tackles. He was excellent and everything that Indy was missing.
The Colts had two sacks and four quarterback hits total. Paye wouldn't have made Indianapolis good enough to beat the Baltimore Ravens, as the defense overall was awful, but Paye would have made the team better. He would likely have done that in the future, too.
Or maybe not. The edge rusher only had four sacks last season after having eight in each of the previous two years. He might have just been a poor fit in Lou Anarumo's scheme. Of course, based on what Paye did in his first games with Las Vegas, maybe he isn't the issue but Anarumo's system is.
While Paye did sign for $16 million a season, his cap hit would have been able to be fit into Indy's space if Chris Ballard had only been a bit more proactive in doing three things.
Two would have been to extend quarterback Daniel Jones and wide receiver Alec Pierce before free agency began. Their extensions would have opened cap space to use immediately. Instead, neither was signed until after free agency started, and about the time Paye was signing with the Raiders.
The third thing Ballard could have done was extend Paye before he hit free agency, which would have allowed his cap hit to be spaced over a few years, even more so had Ballard extended Paye before last season began.
With all the money saved, the Indianapolis Colts should have been able to bring in Arden Key as well, as he signed for two seasons and a total cap hit of $16 million. Indy could have inked Key to a deal and still had plenty of money, even while also keeping Paye, Jones, and Pierce on the roster.
But don't just blame Chris Ballard, a general manager who has often waited too long to do the things he needed to. Lou Anarumo's poor defensive philosophy should be blamed too. Meanwhile, the Raiders are quite happy with what Kwity Paye gave them in Week 1.
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