The New Orleans Saints don’t have much room to laugh at other teams after going 5-12 in 2024, but if it’s one thing the NFL world can agree on, it’s laughing at the Dallas Cowboys. Every year, America’s team does something to embarrass itself and entertain the masses. Things have been so bad recently for Dallas, that even the Saints embarrassed them during the season, winning 44-19 in Week 2.
Now, Saints fans are clowning the Cowboys once again because a recent move the team made. On Tuesday, Dallas agreed on a free agency deal with Payton Turner, bringing the veteran defensive end to the Cowboys on a one-year deal worth $3 million. While that’s not a lot of money, New Orleans fans will be quick to argue that it’s still not a good investment.
Cowboys agree to deal with former Saints defensive end Payton Turner
Unfortunately for Dallas fans, this is just the latest example of what has been an extremely underwhelming offseason for a fan base that should be use to disappointment, despite the yearly high expectations that accompany the Cowboys’ brand. While the leadership in Dallas preaches that the franchise is serious about winning, the fans are consistently given confusing moves like signing Turner.
The reason the Turner signing is so bad, despite it being just a one-year deal worth $3 million, is that his four-year career has been defined by injury. He was a 2021 first-round pick for New Orleans, but will unfortunately go down as one of the worst selections in Saints history. In Turner’s defense, though, the shortcomings of his career were beyond his control.
In four seasons, he played just 31 games for the Saints, as multiple injuries limited him to just 15 games in his first three seasons. When he was on the field, Turner only recorded five sacks, 50 tackles, 11 for a loss, and 11 quarterback hits. That’s far from the production New Orleans hoped to get when they selected him in the first round.
Turner is coming off the healthiest season of his career, playing in 16 games, so some team was definitely going to give him a chance. However, this is the kind of signing that comes late in free agency, not in the opening days. The fact that the Cowboys agreed to this deal during the legal tampering period shows what they’re thinking as a franchise, and why everyone’s laughing at them.