Pass rusher leaves New Orleans after missing more than half of his tenure with various injuries.
One of the bigger disappointments in recent NFL Draft memory for the New Orleans Saints has moved on. Payton Turner has reportedly agreed to a 1-year $3 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys. The Saints obviously did not pick up his fifth-year option, so Turner departs for Dallas after just four seasons in New Orleans.
The #Cowboys are giving former #Saints first-rounder Payton Turner a 1-year, $3M deal with $2M guaranteed, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 11, 2025
Turner was picked with the 28th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft after a good but unremarkable career at the University of Houston. He was a project but never managed to stay on the field, as he only played 31 of a possible 68 games during his tenure in New Orleans due to injury problems. This is including his playing a career high 16 games last season as well, as prior to the 2024 season he had only played in 15 games in three years. When he was on the field, he was far from productive, as he only managed 5 sacks in 31 career games played.
What makes the pick hurt more is that three pass rushers drafted after Turner with picks 30-32 in the same draft (Gregory Rousseau, Odafe Oweh, and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka) all have played double the number of games and have at least triple the number of sacks as Turner.
Age is still on his side as he is just 26 years old, so maybe a change of scenery will benefit him. But Turner will be remembered in New Orleans as one of the more disappointing draft picks in franchise history.
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