Lions Sign Former Saints EDGE Payton Turner

The Detroit Lions have added more depth on their defensive line, specifically in the pass-rush.

On Friday, reports indicated that the Lions have agreed to a one-year contract with defensive end Payton Turner. Formerly with the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys, Turner is the latest addition on a low-risk contract for the Lions this offseason.

Turner is entering his sixth season in the NFL, and was most recently with the Dallas Cowboys last season. However, he was placed on injured reserve before the start of the regular season and did not appear in a game for Dallas.

He entered the league as a first-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in the 2021 NFL Draft, as he spent the first four years of his career in Louisiana. Injuries have been unfortunately a theme for him throughout his career, as he has 31 games played in five seasons and fewer than 700 snaps played.

Things had been looking up for Turner, as he appeared in 16 games in 2024 and recorded two sacks. However, he suffered a rib injury that ended his season in training camp after signing with the Dallas Cowboys.

The Lions do have some history under general manager Brad Holmes of taking chances on players with injury history. One such example is Marcus Davenport, who has signed two separate one-year deals with the Lions but has been limited to 10 total games in two years due to injury.

Over those appearances, Turner has five career sacks, 48 total tackles and 11 tackles for loss. He played collegiately at Houston, where he recorded 10 sacks across four seasons total in his career.

The Lions have one of the NFL's most elite young pass-rushers in Aidan Hutchinson, who is coming off a career year with 14.5 sacks. However, prior to the start of this week they were thin at the position with only Ahmed Hassanein and Tyler Lacy as other options on the roster.

Yet, the Lions have been busy this week with several additions. Detroit signed defensive end D.J. Wonnum on Tuesday, then brought in linebacker Damone Clark and wide receiver Greg Dortch on Wednesday. Now, the Lions have added another pass-rusher in Turner.

Detroit lost its second-most productive pass-rusher from a year ago earlier this offseason when Al-Quadin Muhammad signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Muhammad recorded 11 sacks in 2025, which was a career-best, but never seemed to be a player the Lions trusted to play every down.

Now, the Lions are taking a chance on Turner to try and maximize his potential, even if it is just a rotational role along with Wonnum.