| Full Name | Pheldarius Payne |
| Born | July 14, 2000, in Suffolk, Virginia, USA |
| Nationality | 🇺🇸 American |
| Profession | Professional Defensive End (American Football) |
| Team/Club | Orlando Storm (UFL); formerly Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts practice squads |
Last updated: August 2026
Pheldarius Payne is an American professional defensive end who has spent time on NFL practice squads with the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts and now plays for the Orlando Storm in the UFL. He is the son of Phelton and Johnnetta Payne. No reliable public net worth figure exists for Payne, whose career has so far consisted of undrafted free agent and practice-squad contracts.
Early Life & Family
Payne was born on July 14, 2000, in Suffolk, Virginia, and attended Nansemond River High School, where he earned All-District and All-Region honors during his senior football season. He won a Pop Warner national championship as a fifth-grader.
Rise to Fame
His path to prominence was unusually winding: he played at Lackawanna College (2018-2019), helping the team reach the NJCAA national championship game, before transferring to Nebraska (2020-2021), where he switched to outside linebacker. After entering the transfer portal in February 2022, he joined Virginia Tech, where a season-ending Achilles tendon rupture delayed his 2022 season before he returned to play all 13 games in 2023.
Career History
Payne went undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft and signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent, later being waived and picked up by the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad in December 2024. After a reserve/future contract, he was waived again in May 2025. He was subsequently a third-round pick of the St. Louis Battlehawks in the UFL College Draft and currently plays defensive end for the Orlando Storm.
How They Built Their Wealth
Payne’s income has come from undrafted free agent signing bonuses, NFL practice-squad weekly pay, and UFL contracts, all of which are modest relative to NFL active-roster salaries. No endorsement income is publicly documented.
Personal Life
Payne is the son of Phelton and Johnnetta Payne.
Pheldarius Payne’s career reflects the difficult, multi-stop path many defensive linemen take toward professional football, with no confirmed net worth figure available at this stage.