Turf Show Times
Kobie Turner is on track to become one of the NFL’s highest paid defensive players in 2026
Kobie Turner was the 89th pick, but in his first two seasons he’s played more like the 8th or 9th pick. With 17 sacks in the past two years, Turner ranks third among all defensive tackles in that category behind only Zack Sieler with 20 and Nnamdi Madubuike with 19.5. Having no prior NFL experience, Turner has posted more sacks than Leonard Williams, Chris Jones, DeForest Buckner, Ed Oliver, Vita Vea, and Zach Allen since 2023.
And because Turner was a third round pick, you can almost guarantee that he’s anxious for the pay day that he has deserved since the end of his rookie season. With a salary of only $1.2 million in 2026 (plus performance bonuses probably), Turner is certain to take the L.A. Rams to the negotiating table next offseason if he has another campaign like his first two.
With pass rushers like Micah Parsons bringing up the fact that he tried to get the Cowboys to pay him after three seasons — and they refused — the topic of the Rams paying third-year pass rushers Turner and Byron Young will be on the table for discussion in 2026.
Top-tier pass rushing defensive tackles are getting paid north of $25 million per season, with Jones setting the record at $31.75 million AAV on an extension signed last March on the eve of free agency.
Unless he has 20 sacks or some otherworldly season in 2025, Turner can’t expect to push for $30 million like Chris Jones. But as long as he stays in the 8-10 range, Kobie Turner is going to ask for a higher number than Christian Wilkins and Milton Williams.
And if he was a free agent, he would get it.
The Raiders gave Wilkins a four-year, $110 million deal to leave the Dolphins in 2024 free agency, putting him at $27.5 million AAV.
The Patriots paid Williams a four-year, $104 million deal in 2025 free agency, a $26 million AAV that stunned a lot of people who didn’t know Williams was that valuable to anyone.
Now consider that Milton Williams has never even played in more than 48% of the team’s snaps in any of his first four seasons in the NFL. Williams has 11.5 career sacks in four seasons, an average of less than three per year. Even if Williams was the best run defending nose tackle in the NFL, those players do not typically rank third in salary, but New England is banking on him as a breakout candidate because Next Gen Stats noted that he ranked second in pressure rate from the position.
And that it is only because he was on the star-studded Eagles defensive line that he has been a part-time player.
Whatever the case may be, when the Patriots put Milton Williams in the top-tier of defensive tackle salaries, they made Turner’s agent’s job very easy:...
