Daron Payne was born on February 10, 1998, he is an American football defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cowboys in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He played college football at Iowa.
He attended East English Village Preparatory Academy. He contributed to the team qualifying for the state playoffs in three straight years. As a junior, he tallied 53 tackles and 13 sacks, while receiving honorable-mention all-city honors.
He accepted a football scholarship from the University of Iowa. As a redshirt freshman, he was a backup at the defensive end and totaled 2 tackles.
As a sophomore, he appeared in all 13 games as a key reserve player, collecting 35 tackles (9 for loss), 3.5 sacks, 3 quarterback pressures, one interception, one pass breakup, and 3 fumble recoveries (led the team). He had 3 tackles and one sack against the University of Minnesota. He made 5 tackles and one sack against Northwestern University.
He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round (84th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft. He signed his four-year rookie contract with Dallas on July 21, 2021.
Contract and Salary
He signed a 4 year, $96,000,000 contract, including a $21,500,000 signing bonus, $70,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $24,000,000.
Net Worth
He has an estimated net worth of between $1 million to $3 million.
Height
He is 6 feet 3 inches tall
Stats
Receiving
| YEAR | TEAM | G | REC | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | 1st | 1st% | 20+ | 40+ |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | 20 | 270 | 13.5 | 53 | 4 | 11 | 55 | 3 | 2 |
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | 103 | 1225 | 11.9 | 61 | 10 | 66 | 64.1 | 12 | 4 |
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | 127 | 1535 | 12.1 | 55 | 8 | 73 | 57.5 | 20 | 5 |
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 63 | 1130 | 17.9 | 66 | 6 | 41 | 65.1 | 20 | 8 |
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 102 | 1021 | 10 | 75 | 9 | 49 | 48 | 13 | 2 |
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | 64 | 849 | 13.3 | 59 | 8 | 42 | 65.6 | 14 | 3 |
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 84 | 903 | 10.8 | 46 | 3 | 47 | 56 | 10 | 3 |
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 52 | 720 | 13.8 | 40 | 4 | 31 | 59.6 | 13 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 105 | 615 | 7653 | 12.4 | 75 | 52 | 360 | 58.5 | 105 | 28 |
Rushing
| YEAR | TEAM | G | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | 1st | 1st% | 20+ | 40+ | FUM |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | ||||||||||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 5 | 61 | 12.2 | 27 | 0 | 3 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 10 | 62 | 6.2 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | 8 | 13 | 1.6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 105 | 30 | 160 | 5.3 | 27 | 0 | 9 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Passing
| YEAR | TEAM | G | ATT | COMP | PCT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | INT | 1st | 1st% | 20+ | SCK | SCKY | RATE |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | ||||||||||||||
| TOTAL | 105 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2.1 |
Kick Return
| YEAR | TEAM | G | RET | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | 20+ | 40+ | FC | FUM |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | |||||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | |||||||||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | |||||||||
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | |||||||||
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | |||||||||
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | |||||||||
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | |||||||||
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 1 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | 105 | 1 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Punt Return
| YEAR | TEAM | G | RET | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | 20+ | 40+ | FC | FUM |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | |||||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | |||||||||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | |||||||||
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | |||||||||
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | |||||||||
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | |||||||||
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 6 | 45 | 7.5 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | |||||||||
| TOTAL | 105 | 6 | 45 | 7.5 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Fumbles
| YEAR | TEAM | G | FUM | LOST | FF | OWN FR | OPP FR | TD |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | ||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | 0 | |||||
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 4 | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | 0 | |||||
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 0 | |||||
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 0 | |||||
| TOTAL | 105 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Defense
| YEAR | TEAM | G | Total | Solo | AST | SCK | SFTY | PDEF | INT | TDS | YDS | AVG | LNG |
| 2022 | Buffalo Bills | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2021 | Buffalo Bills | 17 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2020 | Buffalo Bills | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2019 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2018 | Minnesota Vikings | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2017 | Minnesota Vikings | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2016 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2015 | Minnesota Vikings | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TOTAL | 105 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Weight
He is 83 kg