Former BYU safety Daniel Sorensen was a mainstay with the Kansas City Chiefs for eight seasons after signing there as an undrafted free agent pickup in 2014.
Now, the 32-year-old is on to a new team, having signed with the New Orleans Saints in free agency in late March on a one-year deal worth $1.2 million, per Spotrac.
Could his stay in New Orleans be cut short, though?
Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine listed Sorensen as one of seven veteran candidates who could find themselves on the roster bubble when NFL training camps begin later this month.
Sorensen has starting experience — having started 36 games, most over the last four years — and a Super Bowl ring from his time with the Chiefs.
He’s also proven valuable as a special teams ace.
So, what could put him on the chopping block with the Saints, whose veterans report to training camp on July 26?
As Ballentine explains, it partly has to do with the Saints’ personnel at safety, which now includes former Kansas City teammate Tyrann Mathieu, a three-time first-team All-Pro.
“The Saints brass probably didn’t account for Tyrann Mathieu still being available nearly two months after they signed Sorensen, though,” Ballentine wrote.
“Mathieu signed a three-year pact with the Saints in early May. They also signed Marcus Maye from the New York Jets, giving them two high-profile safety signings and two starters on the back end.”
An injury to Maye — he’s coming back from a torn Achilles — could help Sorensen earn a spot on the team’s initial 53-man roster, “but the 32-year-old will have to earn his keep in training camp,” Ballentine wrote.
Like his early time in Kansas City, that leaves Sorensen — who has 350 tackles, 10 interceptions and four touchdowns in his career — proving himself again, one season after giving up a passer rating of 132.9.
What’s helped Sorensen in the past is his toughness and work ethic.
“Dan, you’ve seen him grow every year,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told the Deseret News in 2020, just days before the team won Super Bowl LIV. “The players nicknamed him Dirty Dan, which when you talk to him, he’s the most mild-mannered guy you’ve every met.
“He took on this nickname because of the toughness he displays on the football field and how he goes about his business.”