30 players who will avoid bust status with a breakout campaign in 2024

5. Payton Turner, New Orleans Saints

Payton Turner has fallen off so much with the New Orleans Saints since they used a first-round pick on him in 2021, that most fans aren’t even aware of his existence. Honestly, the Saints could have quite a few players on this list. Former first-round picks Cesar Ruiz, Trevor Penning, and Ryan Ramczyk are all on the cusp of bust status (with Ramczyk already ruled out for the season). However, we wanted to go for the Saints pass rusher, who is truly a cut candidate at this point in the offseason.

Turner has the same profile as many busts before him, including Chaisson. He’s a massive human. Too often, teams fall in love with potential with no actual evidence behind it. There’s so much more to football than size and strength, but teams will make these mistakes again and again. It feels like it’s just ego at this point. 

The Saints have spent so many first-round picks on offense, trying to replace the glory days of Drew Brees and Sean Payton. The one defensive player they selected high (outside of this year’s first-round pick Taliese Fuaga) needs to work. Except, he hasn’t.

Turner is already in the final year of his contract after the Saints declined his fifth-year option. He needs to prove he’s as good as his height and weight say he should be. Whether he does that in New Orleans or somewhere else doesn’t matter. This is the most important year of Turner’s career.