Before Daron Payne suffered a season-ending injury, the Commanders were in trade talks

Published October 31, 2026 03:06 PM Why are teams trading key players well in advance of the November 10 deadline? Doing the deal now avoids the possibility of an injury that could kill the player’s trade value.Case in point — the Commanders, we’re told, were talking to one or more teams about the terms of a potential trade for veteran defensive tackle Daron Payne. After he suffered a season-ending foot injury during practice on Friday, there will be no trade.A first-round pick of the Commanders in 2018, Payne is in the last year of his current contract. The Commanders, due to the injury, have lost the opportunity to get value for his remaining deal, and to avoid paying the balance of his 2026 base salary of $16.4 million.The lesson to every team is clear. The trade deadline isn’t the only deadline that matters. Every game, and every practice, in which a potentially tradable player participates is a practical deadline, since one injury can render a possible trade dead in the water.