3. Demontae Kazee, S
Demontae Kazee is another former Falcon who will likely be flying somewhere else in 2022. For Kazee, not only was his play not good enough, but he also had off-the-field issues as well.
Kazee started in 15 games and was genuinely outperformed by Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker. The fifth-year player just doesn’t have the ball-tracking skills that many other defenders on this team have. He has given up big gains on balls that should have been batted down or intercepted.
He also got himself in trouble when trying to make tackles, as seen below.
Cowboys S Damontae Kazee was fined $6,246 for unnecessary roughness on his touchdown-saving tackle last Sunday of Giants RB Devontae Booker, source said. Kazee drew 15-yard flag for horse-collar tackle. Drive ended with field goal in Cowboys’ 21-6 win. pic.twitter.com/4e2l63lJAB
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) December 26, 2021
In addition to the subpar play, Kazee also had issues with the law. Kazee was arrested for a DWI during the Week 7 bye week back in October. This was after the head coach specifically told his players to be wise with what they do with their time off. With all of these facts combined, it’s hard to imagine the Cowboys would spend money on Kazee over Kearse or Hooker.
Keanu Neal final 2021-22 regular season stats:
- Two interceptions
- Two forced fumbles
- 35 solo tackles
- Zero tackles for loss
- Zero sacks
- Zero QB hits
- 60.9 PFF grade
To compare this with another safety, Kearse had 67 solo tackles, nine tackles for loss, a 76.8 PFF grade, and six QB hits this season.