New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced Wednesday that the club has signed running back Tony Jones Jr. to the active roster from the practice squad and has signed defensive back Cameron Dantzler Sr. to the practice squad.
Jones, 5-11, 224, was originally signed by the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2020 out of Notre Dame and in 20 games with five starts for New Orleans (2020-22, 2023-) and the Seattle Seahawks (2022), he has carried 72 times for 202 yards with two touchdowns and caught ten passes for 59 yards.
After spending the 2023 preseason with the Denver Broncos, the St. Petersburg, Fla. native signed with the Saints practice squad at the start of the regular season and has been elevated to the active roster for the first two regular season games, where he has carried 13 times for 39 yards with two scores. In Monday night's win at Carolina, Jones carried 12 times for 34 yards with his first two career touchdowns.
A four-year letterman for Notre Dame, Jones started 12 games in 2019 and rushed for 857 yards and six touchdowns, as he became the tenth player in the school's single-season history with five or more 100-yard rushing games. He then rumbled for an 84-yard touchdown in the Camping World Bowl win over Iowa State, the longest rush in Notre Dame's bowl history and the bowl's record books.
Dantzler, 6-2, 190, was originally selected as a third round draft pick (89th overall) in 2020 by the Minnesota Vikings out of Mississippi State. A former standout at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Hammond, Dantzler has played in 35 career games with 26 starts, posting career totals of 148 tackles (125 solo), three interceptions, 17 passes defensed, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one special teams tackle. In 2022, Dantzler appeared in ten games with nine starts and totaled 50 tackles, three stops for loss and five passes defensed, in addition to a game-winning forced fumble and fumble recovery on the same play vs. Chicago (10/9/22). During his rookie season in 2020, Dantzler was the first Vikings cornerback to be named to the PFWA All-Rookie team since 1994, when he finished with 46 tackles, three stops for loss, two interceptions, four passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Dantzler split the 2023 offseason and preseason between the Washington Commanders and Houston Texans.
