{"id":555328,"date":"2026-03-21T17:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T17:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/555328\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T17:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T17:05:10","slug":"what-detroit-lions-are-getting-in-defensive-end-payton-turner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/555328\/","title":{"rendered":"What Detroit Lions Are Getting in Defensive End Payton Turner"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday, Detroit general manager Brad Holmes continued his attempt to bolster the Lions\u2019 defensive front<\/a> on the cheap, acquiring former New Orleans Saints first-round pick Payton Turner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The Lions reportedly inked Turner, the No. 28 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, to a one-year deal.<\/p>\n

The move marks the team\u2019s third defensive linemen addition of the week, and underscores Detroit\u2019s commitment to strengthening its pass-rush depth<\/a> entering the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

With Turner\u2019s injury past (and overall lack of production), it\u2019s hard to view him as much more than a reclamation project for Dan Campbell\u2019s squad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still, there have been flashes in his game that suggest untapped potential \u2013 the very reason Holmes is willing to take a flyer on the EDGE defender.<\/p>\n

Turner\u2019s most encouraging stretch came during his final season in New Orleans. He suited up for 16 games, playing a rotational role and averaging roughly 20 snaps per contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In that limited workload, he notched two sacks, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles and three tackles for loss. And for his efforts, he earned a 70.8 pass-rushing grade from Pro Football Focus<\/a>, ranking 34th among 121 qualified EDGEs that season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, availability has been a major issue with Turner since entering the league in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the Saints declined his fifth-year option, Turner signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2025, only to suffer a rib injury during the preseason that sidelined him for the entire year. That setback further reinforced concerns about his durability \u2013 a recurring theme throughout his career.<\/p>\n

Turner still possesses an intriguing skillset, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Equipped with long arms and above-average athleticism, the 6-foot-6 Turner fits the mold of a modern defensive end<\/a> capable of wreaking havoc against quarterbacks and creating turnovers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet, the shortcomings with Turner are hard to ignore, including his lack of prowess against the run.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His PFF run-defense grade of 40.7 in 2024, for example, ranked a measly 119th out of 121 EDGEs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Subsequently, it is hard to envision Turner, if he even makes the Lions\u2019 season\u2013opening roster, being much more than a pass-rush specialist<\/a> in Detroit. And at this present juncture, he profiles as a backup behind Pro Bowler Aidan Hutchinson and fellow recent free-agent signing D.J. Wonnum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is extremely tough to get excited about Holmes\u2019 signing of Turner. And in my opinion, Detroit will fail to get much return on investment<\/a> from its acquisition of the oft-injured EDGE defender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Friday, Detroit general manager Brad Holmes continued his attempt to bolster the Lions\u2019 defensive front on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-555328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}