The Vikings have lost their final home game of the season, overall dropping to 2-6–a truly unacceptable result in front of the home crowd. By failing to Green Bay in Week 17, the playoff odds drastically dropped. Although there is still a way to make it, considering the recent performances, it is fair to ask if they should be there or if it would just result in a blowout defeat.
Saints Waive Once Promising Former Vikings CB
A big problem in those games has been the defense, a unit that fell apart after shutting out the Raiders less than a month ago. While Brian Flores elevated his group to elite levels for roughly a month, it dipped to 2020-2022 levels in the three-game stretch. The injury-riddled pass rush couldn’t get to the quarterback, and the overhauled cornerback group struggled to keep up with the receivers as the NFL apparently solved Flores’ scheme.
The defense played without Byron Murphy, the team’s top cornerback, and the young pack of Akayleb Evans, Mekhi Blackmon, and Andrew Booth had a subpar day. Once a part of the CB room was 2020 third-rounder Cameron Dantzler.
But Dantzler was waived in March despite the concerning depth on the roster. He didn’t have a spot in Flores’ plans, who relied on Murphy, sophomores Evans and Booth, and eventually selected Blackmon in the third round.
The Commanders claimed him off waivers, taking on his contract, but they released him just a couple of months later. A stint with the Bills lasted about seven weeks. Neither team even kept him around for training camp.
He then signed with the Texans, ending up making some exciting plays in the final preseason game. However, he failed to make the 53-man roster a week later.
In September, Dantzler joined New Orleans’ practice squad, signing with the active roster in November, but the franchise has now moved on from him, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson on X. It is the fifth organization that pushed the defender out within ten months, putting his future NFL career in jeopardy. He played in two games for the Saints and only contributed as a special teams player.
Dantzler is a strange case, as he looked quite promising for a while in Minnesota. When Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, and Mackensie Alexander departed in free agency in 2020, the Vikings entered the draft with a massive need at the CB position, drafting Jeff Gladney in the first round and Dantzler in the third.
The duo joined Mike Hughes and Holton Hill on the roster, but a fantastic training camp and a couple of injuries opened the door for Dantzler to log big snap numbers in his debut season. He was on the field on 601 defensive snaps through 11 games with ten starts. A concussion kept him out of some more contests.
While there were some struggles, like an infamous game-winning drive orchestrated by Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf, he had a decent first season, looking like he could develop into a serious CB1 in the following years.
This is where the downward trend started as the Vikes signed star veteran Patrick Peterson and Beshaud Breeland, who was a catastrophe. Dantzler landed in Mike Zimmer’s doghouse, only playing significant snaps when Peterson was hurt or after Breeland’s departure.
In his third year, the coaching staff ran out of patience with him and relied on Duke Shelley next to Peterson, once again landing Dantzler in the doghouse before he was released.
After a promising start, his career has been derailed, and he must find a way to get it back on track, which could be hard as he is running out of teams that could give him a chance. He is 25 years old.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt