Payton Turner’s story from the other day https://t.co/qIdSasB0Cj pic.twitter.com/1Rm7nWQ8eZ
— kaj (@kadinjanisch) February 20, 2025
The New Orleans Saints and the NFL are back to the offseason, and free agency is only a few weeks away now. With that, they have to make decisions on 19 different pending free agents, whether that be extensions prior to free agency, bringing them back during the signing period, or letting them walk for better opportunities.
One of the former Saints first-round picks believes a new opportunity is just what he needs, posting a cryptic Instagram story with a picture of a Rolls Royce in a dusty garage with the caption, “No matter how good you are, if you are in a wrong place, you are worthless.”
The presumed interpretation would be him believing the Saints are no good for him and have been in some way holding him back from his potential. Could it be something else? Probably, given how cryptic NFL players tend to be with these types of things. But it seems relatively straightforward in context.
Turner has had a difficult start to his career, as after he was drafted in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft, he has only played in 31 games (of a possible 68, 45.6% approximately). In that span, he has started none of those games, accruing 674 defensive snaps and 290 special teams snaps. Alongside that, he has 5 sacks, 22 pressures, 50 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 4 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles and a recovery.
A change of scenery would probably do Turner good as it is clear the Saints have been unable to get him to live up to his full potential, and frankly, odds are the team will do what they can to revamp the defensive line unit this offseason anyway. We will see how this all plays out, but it seems Turner may have already begun to move on if this post is any sign.