It didn’t take long for former Minnesota Vikings starting cornerback Cameron Dantzler Sr. to land with a new team.
The Washington Commanders claimed Dantzler off of the NFL waiver wire on Monday, March 13. Football insider Ari Meirov reported the news via Twitter.
The #Commanders claimed CB Cameron Dantzler off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings.
— Ari Meirov () March 13, 2023
“The #Commanders claimed CB Cameron Dantzler off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings,” Meirov wrote.
Vikings Choice to Release Cameron Dantzler Was Unexpected
GettyCornerback Cameron Dantzler, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, on the field at SoFi Stadium on November 14, 2021 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Minnesota waived Dantzler on Friday in a move that saved the team $2.74 million against the salary cap. The decision was something of a stunner for a few reasons:
Dantzler was a starter much of last season when he was available, meaning an already weak secondary lost one of its prime contributors.
Waiving Dantzler offered the Vikings only a modicum of savings, as his contract represented a little over 1% of the team’s 2023 salary cap.
Dantzler, a former third-round pick, is only 24 years old as he heads toward the start of just his fourth NFL campaign this fall.
The Vikings defensive back room is full of young players on rookie contracts, so if a new regime that didn’t draft Dantzler didn’t view him as possessing any viable future with the franchise, then cutting bait now makes enough sense.
However, Vikings insiders across the media landscape were regularly indicating that 32-year-old veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson looked like the odd man out upon the hiring of new defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Even last season on a one-year deal that was the cheapest of his Hall-of-Fame career, Peterson still earned nearly 3.5x what his fellow starting cornerback Dantzler cost against the cap.
Then a week ago, Darren Wolfson of KSTP reported that the Vikings front office and Flores were “absolutely” interested in bringing Peterson back to Minnesota. Four days later, Dantzler was off the team, joining wide receiver Adam Thielen who was cut the same day and linebacker Eric Kendricks who the Vikings released …read more
Source:: Heavy.com