Cameron Dantzler Is Back in the Mix
He campaigned for another shot, and he’ll get it — for at least a week.
Former Vikings CB Cameron Dantzler has resurfaced and is back in the NFL. Here’s what it means for his career and the team giving him another chance.
He’s ex-Minnesota Vikings cornerback Cameron Dantzler, the newest Miami Dolphin.
With roster cuts looming, Dantzler will get a preseason look and quick audition for the bright lights of the regular season roster.
The Dolphins Take the Plunge with an Ex-Vikings CB
Dantzler will hope to stick around into the regular season or join the practice squad.
Cameron Dantzler Signs with Dolphins
A late-summer addition, Miami called upon Dantzler this week.
Orlando Sentinel‘s David Furones wrote Tuesday, “New competition is being brought into the Miami Dolphins’ quest to find a formidable cornerbacks unit for the 2025 season in the final week before NFL active rosters are cut to 53 players.”
“The Miami Dolphins signed cornerback Cameron Dantzler, the team announced Tuesday. Dantzler, who turns 27 Sept. 3, a third-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2020, has appeared in 37 career games with 26 starts in three seasons with the Vikings (2020-22).”
Injuries have rattled Miami’s secondary, so turning to Dantzler feels like an emergency measure.
Realistic Upside for 2025
The Dolphins have three cornerbacks on injured reserve: Artie Burns, Jason Maitre, and Kader Kohou. In summer roster speak, Mike McDaniel and friends are down to nubbins.
In that regard, there’s a slight chance that Dantzler latches onto the bottom of the CB roster as a CB6 or so, but signing this late in the summer suggests a practice squad fate.
But for a man with this lengthy résumé five years into his career, taking part in Miami’s practice squad might be considered a win:
- Minnesota Vikings (2020–2022)
- Washington Commanders (2023)
- Buffalo Bills (2023)
- Houston Texans (2023)
- New Orleans Saints (2023)
- San Antonio Brahmas (2024)
- Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2024)
- Memphis Showboats (2025)
- Miami Dolphins (2025)
The Dolphins’ CB Room
These are the active Dolphins corners as of August 19th:
- Mike Hilton
- Kendall Sheffield
- Storm Duck
- Jack Jones
- Ethan Bonner
- Jason Marshall Jr.
- Isaiah Johnson
- Cam Smith
- Cornell Armstrong
- B.J. Adams
- Ethan Robinson
- Cameron Dantzler
All things considered, that CB unit can be classified as one of the NFL’s worst, which enhances Dantzler’s odds of winning a regular season roster spot.
Dantzler in Minnesota for 3 Seasons
Minnesota picked Dantzler in Round 3 of the 2020 NFL Draft. He immediately flourished, tallying a 70.9 Pro Football Focus grade as a rookie and trended in the right direction for the long haul.
Soon after, Dantzler oddly found coach Mike Zimmer’s dog house in 2021 — and never recovered. He stayed attached to the enterprise in 2022 when general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell took over, but near the end of the 2022 campaign, Minnesota unceremoniously benched Dantzler.
He’s basically bounced around since, with no staying power anywhere.
Kyle Joudry on Dantzler Earlier in the Offseason
Our Kyle Joudry opined on Dantzler in April, “In football, someone’s tape is their résumé. Ideally, that tape can arrive in the NFL (or, for a youngster, within a top-tier college program). Not everyone has that luxury, though. Instead, there needs to be a willingness to prove excellence in whatever level of football where someone finds himself while continuing to push for the coveted next chance in the NFL.”
“Since being drafted at No. 89 back in the 2020 NFL Draft, Cameron Dantlzer has been on a wild football journey. He played with the Vikings for three seasons but then bounced around with various teams. The corner has also been employed by the Commanders, Bills, Texans, and Saints. Several depth options are jostling for position within the corner hierarchy, but Nahshon Wright has recently been released, meaning the competition has lost one contender.”
Dantlzer will turn 27 in two weeks.
Joudry added, “The Vikings appear to be an option to snag a corner high in the draft (the team is going to meet with a top prospect). Getting some youthful competition into the mix would be a nice move for Minnesota. Seeing a reunion with Cameron Dantzler, though, isn’t something that’s likely.”
“Look for Mr. Dantlzer to get an opportunity elsewhere, possibly in time for training camp in the summer.”
Dantlzer indeed got his opportunity — slightly after training camp. He’ll learn his 53-man roster fate in one week.
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