Inside The Vikings

Former Vikings Starter Waived By Third Team in Last Five Months

Cameron Dantzler was once a promising young piece for the Vikings. Now his career is in rough shape.
Will Ragatz|
Former Vikings Starter Waived By Third Team in Last Five Months
Former Vikings Starter Waived By Third Team in Last Five Months

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Minnesota Vikings

Just last year, Cameron Dantzler was on the rise. The former third-round pick had started 17 games over his first two seasons for the Vikings, displaying significant promise during that time despite some inconsistency. He was coming off a season in which his 73.8 PFF grade ranked 16th out of 82 qualified cornerbacks.

Under a new coaching staff, Dantzler won a starting job out of training camp and held that role for the first half of the season. But an ankle injury sidelined him in Week 9, and when he was out, Duke Shelley took his job and ran with it. Dantzler appeared in just two more games the rest of the season.

This year, things have fallen apart to a shocking degree for the former Mississippi State star. He was waived by the Vikings in March, presumably because they didn't view him as a fit in Brian Flores' defense. Dantzler was claimed on waivers by the Commanders, but they waived him at the end of May. He signed with the Bills about a week later...only to be waived on Friday after just a couple training camp practices with the team.

That means Dantzler — who doesn't turn 25 until September — has been waived by three different teams in the last five months. All of a sudden, his NFL career seems to be in trouble.

We'll see if Dantzler gets another opportunity with a team this year. He has 26 career starts and still possesses some upside, but it appears that he has some things to work on in order to extend his career.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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