Inside The Huskies

Former UW Jack of All Trades Ezekiel Turner Won't Go Away, Re-Signs with Cardinals

The one-time Husky gets a new contract even after missing most of the 2021 NFL season.

Dan Raley

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Ezekiel Turner started just five games in his three seasons at the University of Washington, and just once in 49 outings for the Arizona Cardinals, but this is a football player who carries great value.

On Friday, the Cardinals deemed Turner someone they can't play without, re-signing the special-teams whiz to a one-year deal, with the terms not immediately made available.

It didn't matter that the 6-foot-2, 214-pound backup safety and punt-team leader missed all but five games of the 2021 season with a shoulder injury.

In his four NFL seasons, Turner has made such a special-teams difference he's made himself invaluable on fourth down.

Two years ago, he blocked a pair of punts and caught a 26-yard pass from teammate Andy Lee on a fake punt.

Turner came to the Huskies from Pasadena, Maryland, and primarily backed up Budda Baker and JoJo McIntosh at the safety positions while he was there. He went undrafted.

The Cardinals brought him on board a year after drafting Baker and they rely on both of them to make a lot of things happen. 

Turner led Arizona in special-teams tackles with 22 in 2018 and tied for the team lead with 15 in 2020. 

He should be fully recovered when the next season comes around. 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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