Payton Turner
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Former New Orleans Saints edge rusher Payton Turner.
The Dallas Cowboys hoped they’d get a quick turnaround on their investment in edge rusher and former 1st round pick Payton Turner in 2025 — they never got a single game out of him.
Turner left the Cowboys after 1 season spent entirely on injured reserve to sign with the Detroit Lions on Friday.
“The Lions have signed DE Payton Turner, the team announced,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on his official X account. “Former first-round pick missed last year with a rib injury.”
Turner would have had a huge role on the Cowboys defense in 2025 but he was placed on injured reserve on August 26 — just 2 days before the Cowboys traded NFL All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers.
“The Cowboys are placing DE Payton Turner on injured reserve/designated to return with broken ribs, per sources,” ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote on his official X account. “He’d been dealing w/ rib issue since first preseason game and became worse vs. Atlanta. He will miss the first 4 games.”
Former First Round Pick Struggled in NOLA
Turner, the No. 21 overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, still might have breakout star potential after 4 disappointing seasons with the New Orleans Saints to start his career followed by an entire year off in Dallas.
“Will a return to the state of Texas and a chance to work as a rotational player behind (Micah) Parsons and the Cowboys’ collection of talent allow Turner to progress after his first fully healthy campaign?” USA Today’s K.D. Drummond wrote on May 25. “Turner will enter the 2025 training camp as the likely sixth edge rusher in the Cowboys’ depth chart. The Cowboys also signed former No. 3 overall pick Dante Fowler as a free agent, and he’s coming off a 10-sack season in his one year with Washington.”
Turner signed a 1-year, $2.5 million contract with the Cowboys on March 11.
Injuries Have Defined Payton Turner
Turner, 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, played his way into the first round with 5.0 sacks in just 5 games for the University of Houston during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
While injuries decimated Turner’s first 3 seasons in the NFL — he played just 13 games in that stretch — those problems were for shoulder and turf toe issues and didn’t involve significant structural damage.
In 2024, Turner played in 16 out of 17 games with career highs for tackles (21), sacks (2.0), forced fumbles (2) and pass deflections (4).
Turner Didn’t Look Great for Cowboys in Preseason
Turner’s one thing he’s supposed to do well — rush the passer — didn’t go totally well through the preseason.
With the Cowboys staring down what could be one of the more forgettable seasons in recent memory this season, there was no guarantee Turner would be on the roster even at the start of the regular season.
“Payton Turner is not a pass rusher,” The Lando Show’s Landon Holifield wrote on his official X account in August 2025. “We knew that already but it’s resurfaced in light of the semi-viral James Houston clip. I swore I was going to love his run-stop ability more than I do. He leverages & sometimes OVER relies on his length. In other words, to me it often feels like he’s much more ‘patty cake’ than punch or pop but the flashes are still there. Hard to give up on a frame like 98 but the gut tells me he’s gonna need a big pre-season week 3.”