Cameron Dantzler Has Another New Team
Dustin Baker
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Former Minnesota Vikings cornerback Cameron Dantzler has traveled a bendy road in the last six months, a part of five separate rosters as of Thursday.
Dantler, 25, joined the New Orleans Saints, the latest destination for the once-promising defender.
Cameron Dantzler Has Another New Team
WWL-TV’s Doug Mouton tweeted Thursday, “The Saints added Tangipahoa Parish legend Cameron Dantzler to their Practice Squad. He’s from Hammond. A great high school quarterback at St. Thomas Aquinas, the school has retired his jersey number. He played CB for the last 3 seasons with the Vikings.”
Dantlzer will now be an injury or promotion away from the Saints active roster, a team situated at 2-0 atop the NFC South, mainly thanks to impressive defense. New Orleans’ defense ranks fourth leaguewide per EPA/Play through two weeks of NFL action.
Minnesota waived Dantzler on March 10th. He was scooped off waivers soon after by the Commanders, who later said sayonara to Dantzler in May. On June 7th, the Bills signed Dantzler to their 90-man roster, where he’d presumably vie for a regular season roster spot. And seven weeks later, Buffalo waived Dantzler as well. Then, during the NFL’s final roster trimdowns in August, Dantzler was an odd man out in Houston. An adventure, indeed.
Dantzler showed various flashes of productivity since entering the NFL as a 3rd-Round draft pick in 2020 but finished three straight seasons with a whimper due to injury or otherwise. Dantzler fired up a praiseworthy 70.9 Pro Football Focus grade as a rookie, followed by an even better 73.8 score in 2021. Yet, after getting injured midseason in 2022, Dantzler never seemed to recover and lost his starting job.
Vikings fans and pundits knew the 2023 offseason would entail defensive change, but Dantzler wasn’t necessarily on the list of probable cuts. He was inexpensive, young, and possessed the “upside” label. Still, Minnesota parted ways with the Mississippi State alumnus, adding newcomer CBs Byron Murphy, Mekhi Blackmon, and Joejuan Williams.
Last year, Dantzler scored a game-sealing fumble recovery — which was really just Dantzler yanking a football away from former teammate Ihmir Smith-Marsette — over the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium. It turned out to be his biggest highlight of the season and perhaps his career.
The 24-year-old is a perfect candidate for a team’s practice squad, so the Saints decision is wise. Some felt Dantzler could make the Texans roster in August after this game-ending preseason transaction:
New Orleans also employs former Vikings OT Storm Norton (Practice Squad) and LB Ryan Connelly (Injured Reserve).
The Vikings play the Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium in 51 days.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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