The Detroit Lions linebacker room became a revolving door in 2024. Injury decimated the unit, forcing Detroit to play a lot of different players down the stretch.

While the play was sometimes painful to watch, it also gave the Lions an opportunity to figure out which players can still ball and who won’t be coming back for 2025.

One of those players is veteran linebacker Ezekiel Turner. After playing a significant number of snaps for Detroit in 2024, Turner now faces free agency and presents an interesting conversation for a potential re-signing.

Here’s a look at our previously written free agent profiles: QB Teddy Bridgewater, WR Allen Robinson, WR Tim Patrick, G Kevin Zeitler, OT Dan Skipper, EDGE Marcus Davenport, EDGE Al-Quadin Muhammad, DT Levi Onwuzurike, DT Pat O’Connor, DT Kyle Peko, LB Derrick Barnes, CB Carlton Davis, CB Emmanuel Moseley, CB Kindle Vildor, CB Khalil Dorsey, S Ifeatu Melifonwu, and K Michael Badgley.

Ezekiel Turner

Expectations heading into 2024

Turner spent most of the offseason with the San Francisco 49ers. He was released toward the end of training camp, then ended up signing to the Texans’ and Seahawks’ practice squad before he finally landed with the Lions in early November.

When he arrived in Detroit, expectations were fairly low. Detroit hadn’t been hit with its injury problems at linebacker yet. Turner was on the practice squad and the expectation was for him to likely stay there, unless the Lions thought they needed a boost on special teams.

While Turner came to the Lions with six years of NFL experience, a huge majority of his play was on special teams. Prior to arriving in Detroit, he had just 190 defensive snaps to his name compared to 1,769 on special teams. He had never played more than 107 defensive snaps in a season, and he only had two NFL starts.

So this just seemed like a basic special teams add.

Actual role in 2024

9 games (0 starts): 12 tackles. 0.5 sacks, 3 QB hits — 111 defensive snaps, 189 special teams snaps
PFF Defensive grade: 49.7 (Did not qualify for ranking)
PFF Run Defense grade: 71.3
PFF Pass Rush grade: 69.6
PFF Tackling grade: 81.0
PFF Coverage grade: 39.1
PFF Special Teams grade: 77.4 (70th out of 697 qualifying special teamers)

Indeed, Turner started out as a special teamer. Just a few days after signing with the team, he was elevated for the Texans game and participated in 26 special teams snaps (86%). The next week, he signed to the 53-man roster. The rest of the season he would maintain a significant special teams role (playing at least 50% of snaps), but the most notable part came when Detroit’s linebacker injuries swept through the roster.

With Derrick Barnes, Alex Anzalone, Malcolm Rodriguez, and Jalen Reeves-Maybin all out toward the end of the season, Turner suddenly had carved out a significant defensive role.

At first, it went well. Most notably, Turner made a critical play on Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers. On third-and-goal, Turner dragged Love from behind to hold him to a 2-yard gain and hold the Packers to a game-tying field goal with 3:38 left. That allowed the Lions offense to eat up the remaining time on the clock and kick the game-winning score. Turner earned a 91.8 PFF grade that week on 17 defensive snaps.

He would earn a bigger role for the next two weeks (Bills, Bears), but the solid play did not continue. While Turner proved to be a decent box defender, his coverage skills were exploited the rest of the way. According to PFF, Turner allowed a perfect passer rating in coverage for the Lions, ceding five catches on five targets for 65 yards and two touchdowns.

As you can see from his PFF grades above, Turner was actually pretty solid in other aspects of his game, but his liability in coverage proved to be very costly, and he eventually lost his role on defense to Reeves-Maybin and Anzalone returning to the lineup.

Outlook for 2025

Contract status: Unrestricted free agent

For the fourth straight year, Turner will face free agency.

Pros of re-signing

For one, he’s an incredibly reliable special teamer and has been for a long time. Here’s how Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp described him:

“He’s super smart and intelligent, I got a lot of confidence and faith and trust in him already in a very short period of time. The special teams coach from Arizona sent me a text message and said, ‘I don’t know if I trust another guy more than I trust him.’ And that’s a guy I respect quite a bit. So, anyway, yeah, we feel good about him.”

Interestingly, the Lions actually viewed him initially as a Reeves-Maybin replacement both on special teams and defense, pointing to his athleticism to help him in coverage.

“We’re going to use Zeke in a ton of coverage situations because that’s what he can do,” Aaron Glenn said of his game back in late December.

That, perhaps, suggests that the limited stints in coverage we saw Turner struggle at was an outlier. Of course, that would make sense considering he was only with the team for a few months.

So to have a high-end special team linebacker who could help back up Reeves-Maybin—who is older, entering the final year of his contract, and is a slight cap casualty candidate—is good insurance, particularly when it comes at the veteran minimum price.

Cons of re-signing

Simply put, the coverage issues are extremely concerning. The Lions defense fell apart down the stretch, and it was largely because of leaky linebacker play. Turner may be a great special teamer, but if the Lions have to rely on him defense again, it’s hard to have a ton of faith it will work out.

Theoretically, the Lions could draft a linebacker, instead. They could likely get some special teams work out of a rookie, and while that would likely be a downgrade from Turner, the upside of a potentially better defensive contributor may be enough to go down that road instead.

Turner is also entering his eighth year in the NFL, so it’s unlikely there is some untapped defensive potential we’ve seen.

Is there interest from both sides?

We know for certain that Turner would like to be back. After moving from team to team in 2024, he found both stability and an organization he wants to be a part of in Detroit.

“This organization is second to none,” Turner told Detroit Football Network in December. “I would love to continue to play here if the opportunity presents itself. I’m blessed to be here with this opportunity the coaches and front office have given me.”

With the Lions, it’s harder to tell. They certainly value special teams, so that will give Turner a chance to return.

But Turner’s defensive struggles were notable, and Detroit could be looking to prioritize that after this past season’s collapse. Another factor to consider: will linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard’s promotion to defensive coordinator help Turner’s case or hurt it?

Cost?

Turner will almost certainly cost the veteran minimum to re-sign in Detroit, which would be around $1.2 million.

Conclusion

I see little harm in re-signing a very reliable special teamer to a veteran minimum deal. It wouldn’t guarantee him a roster spot, but it would also leave you covered with an experienced player who is now more familiar with your defense after spending just three months on the team.

At the same time, it makes sense for Detroit to try and get younger with more defensive potential at the position. The only linebacker signed for 2026 right now is Jack Campbell, so investment in some young talent make sense for this position. Still, nothing wrong with complementing a move to get younger with a veteran, reliable special teamer.