Why Cowboys DE Payton Turner feels he can have breakout 2025 in Dallas, reveals what didn't work with Saints

When someone is chosen as a first-round pick in the NFL Draft, the team that selects them typically envisions that player at least reaching a second contract with them at the end of their rookie deal.

That didn't happen with Payton Turner and the New Orleans Saints, who picked him 28th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft out of the University of Houston. New Orleans opted to decline his fifth-year option after Turner only played in 15 games in his first three seasons and recorded just three total sacks in that span from 2021 to 2023. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound edge rusher dealt with a litany of injuries ranging from issues with his chest, shoulder, toe and calf. 

Turner, 26, figured things out regarding his health in 2024, appearing in a career-high 16 games and tying his single-season career-high in sacks with two. He feels like playing in new Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus' scheme alongside All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons and defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa can help him reach his untapped potential. He's never had better running mates in his career, and he believes a more practical approach schematically in Dallas, instead of former Saints head coach Dennis Allen's scheme, can help free him up to attack even more off the line of scrimmage. 

"[The Cowboys] got these different types of bodies and different guys who can do a few different things. I can kind of do a little bit of everything at a high level," Turner said Tuesday on a conference call. "In New Orleans, where I see the difference is … this defense with coach Eberflus is a lot about penetrating and getting vertical and then react. As opposed to New Orleans, we [were] really detailed with our technique as far as you need to hold this gap. It wasn't so much about getting knockback, getting vertical. They both have their advantages, they're both different. I'm excited to switch it up a little bit and get back to get off the ball and set the edge vertically and getting back to it."  

Grading each Cowboys move in 2025 free agency: Dallas goes bargain bin shopping despite plenty of cap space

Garrett Podell

Eberflus made sure to keep his message to Turner direct and to the point. 

"Get off the ball, set the edge, and be violent," Turner said of what Eberflus' told him his role is going to be. "Those are three things that I really enjoy doing, that I can highlight in my game with the Cowboys."  

As for the injuries, Turner is putting in the work to make sure his 16-game season in 2024 becomes the norm for himself, not an outlier. Changes in his routine and body maintenance, essentially becoming more of a pro's pro, are the drivers behind his enhanced durability. 

"I feel like [the injuries] impeded my progress," Turner. "But stringing 16 games together more so proved to myself that I can do this. I can stay healthy. I've got a new routine. I'm sticking to that routine. … To start the season healthy and finish the season healthy [was] big for me, my confidence and continuity to progress as a football player. I thought that was big-time for me last year. I'm looking forward to building on that this year."

Turner hired a personal allergist and a trainer as he's placed more of an emphasis on his recovery and diet across the last calendar year. He credits his allergist for aiding him in cutting out foods that caused him to suffer from inflammation while also introducing him to regularly eating his vitamins. He's also unofficially following the tenets of Tom Brady's "TB12 method" by emphasizing the importance of mobility and pliability workouts with his trainer, a new workout staple of his. Turner incorporating yoga and Pilates into his training have provided a release of sorts to his muscles as he has shifted away from exclusively strength and weight training, his previous training approach earlier in his career. 

"Finding a routine helped me to be available. That was the biggest thing I think I struggled with in New Orleans," Turner said. "We get so focused on getting so big and strong, I think sometimes, younger guys think, 'You've just got to lift super heavy all the time, get as strong as you can get.' Sometimes you neglect the mobility stuff that got you to that point. As you get older and play more games and put more years on your body, [it's evolved] to taking care of the little stuff for me. …Keeping that mobility. Trying to stay young, getting my sleep right, tracking my sleep. I've put together a good program that works for me."

The Cowboys will find out in the 2025 season whether or not the one-year, $2.5 million deal they signed Turner to will turn into a winning lottery ticket of sorts, and the former first-round pick feels ready to prove them right.