{"id":755938,"date":"2026-02-16T12:37:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T12:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/755938\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T12:37:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T12:37:22","slug":"2026-colts-free-agent-watch-kwity-paye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/755938\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Colts Free Agent Watch: Kwity Paye"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771245441_158_GettyImages-1360900204-1.jpg\" alt=\"Indianapolis Colts v Arizona Cardinals\" class=\"wp-image-83565\"  \/>Source: GLENDALE, ARIZONA \u2013 DECEMBER 25: Kwity Paye #51 of the Indianapolis Colts celebrates against the Arizona Cardinals during the fourth quarter at State Farm Stadium on December 25, 2021 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>INDIANAPOLIS \u2013 It was a Lou Anarumo quote late in the season not directly about Kwity Paye, but certainly could apply to his 5-year NFL career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou want to,\u201d Anarumo began, \u201cgot to be able to set the edge and rush the passer, and maybe not necessarily in that order.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Calling Paye a strong edge setter is a fair statement.<\/p>\n<p>Calling him not a strong pass rusher is a also a fair statement.<\/p>\n<p>And when you are drafting a defensive end in Round 1, you need more in that second department.<\/p>\n<p>Paye will hit free agency this offseason for the first time in his NFL career.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike a few other Colts free agents, Paye\u2019s contract year was not a banner one.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tLove Sports? Get more! Join the 93.5 \/ 107.5 The Fan Newsletter\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-ione-newsletter-sign-up__privacy\">\n\t\t\t\t\tWe care about your data. See our <a href=\"https:\/\/urban1.com\/privacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">privacy policy<\/a>.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Despite playing all 17 games this season, Paye had just 4 sacks (88th in the NFL) and 6 tackles for loss (123rd in the NFL).<\/p>\n<p>Back in May 2024, Chris Ballard decided to retain Paye on a 5th year option, priced at $13.3 million for this past season.<\/p>\n<p>Safe to say, the Colts didn\u2019t get that return on investment from their 2021 first-round pick.<\/p>\n<p>While Ballard clearly has had some affinity for Paye, it\u2019s hard to argue a return for him, given his lack of consistent pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, was Ballard tipping his hand at defensive front changes during his season-ending presser back in January?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Source: GLENDALE, ARIZONA \u2013 DECEMBER 25: Kwity Paye #51 of the Indianapolis Colts celebrates against the Arizona Cardinals&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[2005,7,2004,392,2381,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-755938","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-colts","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-indianapolis","11":"tag-indianapolis-colts","12":"tag-indianapoliscolts","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116080349341518758","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}