Heading into his sixth NFL season, Kwity Paye has the opportunity to reinvent himself in Las Vegas.
Paye came into the league with high expectations as a 2021 first-round pick out of Michigan, sharing his alma mater with Raiders General Manager John Spytek. In his tenure with the Indianapolis Colts, he managed to become a focal point of their defense with 30.5 sacks in 74 career starts.
While his quarterback sack totals are satisfactory, his bread and butter as a defensive lineman is as a run defender. He has 37 career tackles for loss along with 22 run stops in 2025, per Next Gen Stats.
“Aggressive, powerful, setting edges, getting to quarterback [with] bull rush,” Kwity Paye describing his play style to Raiders.com.
All of those attributes put him on pace to raise his level of play, arguably joining the most talented defensive line he’ll play with up to this point in his career.
For starters, he’s expected to play alongside five-time Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby, who’s proven to be an elite run stopping edge rusher since entering the league. With Crosby garnering so much attention from opposing offenses, Paye can emerge into the anchor on the other side of the line that No. 98 – and the Raiders defense – has been yearning for.
“It’s going to be crazy, man,” said Paye of the chance to play with Crosby. “Just seeing him pursue and just his relentless pursuit throughout the down, just being to play with him and get after it.”
“I’m athletic enough to play anywhere on the line, so anywhere these guys need me, and I’m going to go out there and play,” he added. “Playing opposite of Maxx is going to be great. And yeah, just anywhere they need me.”