On Thursday night, the Dallas Cowboys and former Atlanta Falcons Damontae Kaze have agreed to terms on safety, as Ian Rapoport, NFL Network Insider, reports.
The Dallas Cowboys added Kazee to their defensive backfield. Damontae Kazee signed a one-year contract with the Cowboys as per the sources, says veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson.
The ex-Falcons Safety and noted ball hawk Damontae Kazee agreed to terms with Dallas after an official visit to the Cowboy organization on Wednesday.
Before agreeing to the terms with the Cowboys, Kazee reportedly visited the Detroit Lions on Thursday.
Damontae Kazee had an Achilles tear in October. According to the Cowboys reporter for the Dallas Morning News, Michael Galken, the Cowboys’ medical staff was satisfied with the recovery of Kazee’s injury.
Consequently, the Dallas Cowboys quickly offered Damontae a contract once he passed the medical test.
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Damontae Kazee’s familiar reunion in Dallas
27-year-old Kazee is a former fifth-round pick of Dan Quinn of the 2017 NFL Draft. Dan was the head coach of Kazee for the first four years of his career in Atlanta.
However, Quinn is the new defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys.
In addition to this, Kazee’s position coach in Atlanta in 2020 was Joe Whitt Jr., the current Cowboys’ secondary coach.
Therefore, both the defensive coordinator and secondary coach tie deep familiarity with Kazee in Dallas.
Quinn and Joe are expected to return to Dallas to cover three defense for utilizing the single-high coverage.
Similarly, Kazee’s longtime Falcons teammate Keanu Neal has also signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys.
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With this, Kazee will have another familiar face besides the coaches in Dallas.
Due to Neal’s season-ending injury, Damontae got his first chance to start at safety back in 2018.
However, in Dallas, Kazee will be playing as a defensive backfield and Neal as a linebacker.
Damontae Kazee former state
Damontae Kazee was the overall 149th pick of the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL draft.
Later in May, Kazee signed a four-year contract worth $2.68 million, including a signing bonus of $288,922 with the Atlanta Falcons.
Damontae began his training camp with a nickel-back role. Subsequently, Dan Quinn positioned him to a free safety role, which Kazee showed throughout his training camp.
Although Kazee started his professional career in 2016, he made a regular professional season career with the Atlanta Falcons’ opening season.
He recorded two solo tackles in his debut season and forced a fumble in a 23-17 win against Chicago Bears.
Kazee earned his first career start when free safety Ricardo Allen suffered from a concession. Then, he was named a backup safety.
Damontae finished his regular season collecting 23 combined tackles, including fourteen solos and two forced fumbles in one start and 16 games.
He started his second season in 2018 as a backup free safety to Keanu Neal, who suffered from an ACL injury.
Kazee ended his season making a season-high record with ten combined tackles and an interception. Moreover, he became the season’s third in the team with combined 82 tackles.
In 2019, Damontae recorded his first interception against the Carolina Panthers in a 29-3 victory.
He finished the season with 74 combined tackles, three interceptions, and one forced fumbles.
However, in 2020 the safety Kazee while playing against Green Bay Packers, tore his Achilles’ tendon. Therefore, he only played four games.
This marked his 2020 NFL season to an end, and he was thus placed in an Injury Reserve (IR).
Damontae Kazee in Dallas Cowboys
Nevertheless, before ending the 2020 season with the Falcons, Damontae recorded 20 tackles and 1 forced fumble.
In 2021, the Dallas Cowboys auditioned for Cowboys’ facilities. And Damontae Kazee was among the three safeties that the Cowboys auditioned for.
Damontae Kazee recorded seven interceptions in one season, and the Cowboys did not have any players since 1984 who were close to Kazee’s seven interceptions.
In addition to Damontae, the club auditioned Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker as well.
Malik Hooker was the former first-round pick who spent the 2020 season with Detroit Lions after four years with Minnesota Vikings.
Quarterback Jameis Winston re-signing with the Saints.
Similarly, the former Minnesota Vikings special teams captain, Jayron Kearse, also played the last season for the Detroit Lions.
However, the team ended up signing only Kearse after hosting the safety-free agent Kazee later on Wednesday.
Since Kazee and Hooker both had an Achilles injury, both were together in Injury Reserve last year.
Kazee, regarded as an ironman, played all 16 games in his first three seasons before the injury.
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Dallas Cowboys were searching for true safety and hope it has been found in Damontae Kazee.
Considering the ties of 27-year-old Kazee with former head coach Quinn and secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr., Kazee, and the Cowboys are a good fit.
Damontae Kazee can play all the defensive secondary, single-high lineup, slot corner, and box safety.
However, it is unsure that he will have a good start with the Cowboys’. Nevertheless, he is set to rise in his position and pedigree.
