When the offseason started, I was worried about both sides of the ball for the Dallas Cowboys, and now, all of a sudden, the defense looks to be somewhat decent?
With the news last week that Sam Williams may be ready for trading camp, and bringing back Dante Fowler, and resigning, Osa Odighizuwa to pair with Micah Parsons.
Zack Sanborn should be a really underrated player for the Cowboys this year. He will be a solid linebacker. That is the one spot they are probably going to struggle the most on that side of the ball.
Yet, there is one player that is getting buried on the depth chart that we all may have forgotten about that could have a chance to make some headway in 2025.
Payton Turner
Look, I get it, he was a first round pick of the Saints. He didn’t work out well there, so Jerry Jones signed him for cheap, but hey, at least they did something right?
The Saints took the 6-6, 270 defensive end with the 28th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Yet after four years of pretty much doing nothing, he decided against picking up his fifth-year option, and he was more than glad to sign a one-year, $2 million guaranteed free agent deal, a sort of prove-it contract with the Cowboys.
Turner went to the University of Houston played in only 31 career games and logged on 50 total tackles, five sacks with 674 defensive snaps.
With the loss of DeMarcus Lawrence and Chauncey Golston, this team may need Turner to help out the load with Marshawn Kneeland.
Turner is going to get snaps, it is that simple. Even though when you look at the depth chart he is clearly buried, he will get his chance.
SINK OR SWIM
That is about as cut and dry as I can put it, Turner is going to get thrown into game action and it is about how he responds.
He is either going to sink or swim, and honestly, he has battled through injuries.
After playing only five games is the 2020 final year at Houston dealing with COVID restrictions and a foot injury, then a shoulder injury his rookie season landed him on injured reserve with the Saints in 2021, limiting him to five games.
In 2022, he played just eight games, battling shoulder, chest and ankle injuries. In 2023, just two games, 25 snaps, landed on IR following toe surgery after playing the opener, then returning for just the final game.
While he was active for 16 games in 2024, he finally played 31 percent of the snaps (331/avg. 20 a game), two sacks, 21 total tackles.
Right now, on the depth chart for the Cowboys, he is behind Dante Fowler, Micah Parsons, Marshawn Kneeland, Sam Williams and 2025 draft pick Donovan Ezeiruaku.
Fowler, Parsons and Kneeland are the only locks we sit today. Williams is reported to be ready for camp, but you don’t want to rush him back, and Donovan is a rookie, so who knows how he will look.
Look, this defense is going to need all hands on deck to help out an offensive who is going to be Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb 500 times a game.
They will need everyone to step in and help out, and I think they won’t be half bad. Although they will have their moments, I like them a lot more today than I did about two months ago.
We will see how the rest of the summer goes as workouts start in two weeks.
