Ex-Vikings Corner Cameron Dantzler is Back in the News
In ex-Vikings corner Cameron Dantzler, the franchise believed it had a young building block to rally around for several years. No doubt, that would have been a tremendous outcome for the 3rd-Round choice with a lacklustre forty time.
Instead, he got axed, leading to a journeyman NFL path before a shot in the UFL.
Currently, he’s an employee of the Louisville Kings. He took to social media to address the kerfuffle: “I apologize for what I did but I don’t apologize for standing up for my brother. I could’ve been a professional and handled it a different way , so kings nation I am truly sorry !!”
Ex-Vikings Corner Apologizes for Fight
Generally speaking, sticking up for a teammate is to be praised. Still, there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed.
Dantzler has long desired a return to NFL football. Failing to stick around in Minnesota led to tons of chances with other teams, none of which turned into long-lasting relationships. Eliminating some of the shenanigans would be helpful since coaches don’t like spending unnecessary energy on a CB5.
So much of what made Mr. Dantzler promising in that initial Vikings season was his physicality. Sure, he may not be blazing fast, but he proved scrappy. Every coaching staff loves a corner who can tackle — Antoine Winfield is perhaps the example from recent Vikings history — so there did appear to be a path forward for him with the organization.
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Dantzler’s rookie season involved playing in eleven games, starting ten. He had 46 tackles alongside 2 interceptions and 4 passes defended. All along, the corner never shied away from stepping up to wrangle runners. He then had 53 tackles to stand alongside 1 interception and 8 passes defended as a sophomore, the byproduct of fourteen games of work (seven starts).
Part of the problem for Cameron Dantzler is that there was a regime change in 2022. Seemingly everybody played poorly under Ed Donatell; the corner wasn’t immune to the downturn.
In March of 2023 — a time when Brian Flores was brand new as the DC — the Minnesota Vikings moved on. What followed was a chance to play for the Commanders. After a brief stop, there was a chance with the Bills. After that didn’t work out, Dantzler got a shot with the Texans. After things fizzled in Houston, the Saints gave things a whirl. And after that the Dolphins gave Dantzler a chance.
The great issue is that Dantzler hasn’t been able to find a permanent home in the NFL. He’s good enough to get chances, but not good enough to secure as a long-term solution in a team’s secondary.
Part of the irony for the current iteration of the Minnesota Vikings is that there has been a beefy effort to find a corner who fits a similar profile to Dantzler. Most prominently, free agency resulted in James Pierre while the draft resulted in Chuck Demmings, both of whom are long-and-strong outside corners. More broadly, the team has Dwight McGlotherm, Zemaiah Vaughn, and others who are of a similar build.
Cameron Dantzler, 27, stands at 6’2″ and 190 pounds. Quite possibly, he’ll get another chance to prove capable of hanging in the NFL. Joining the Vikings yet again appears very unlikely.
