Cornerback Andrew Booth opens up about trade from Vikings to Cowboys

Cornerback Andrew Booth opened up this week about his trade from the Minnesota Vikings to the Dallas Cowboys to play out his rookie contract. The 2022 second-rounder has two years remaining on his rookie contract and he’ll try to work his way into the Cowboys’ rotation in the secondary, which stars Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland. Dallas exchanged former third-rounder Nahshon Wright with the Vikings for Booth.

As Booth characterized it this week, his trade was a move that favored both him and his former team.

“I think I did my time there and I appreciate the guys for taking me in and taking a chance on me and they know what type of ballplayer I was,” Booth said, via Calvin Watkins. “It was time to move on.”

Though he suited up in his new No. 25 jersey for Dallas on Sunday for their first preseason game against the Rams, he did not contribute to the stat sheet.

Booth, 23, comes to Dallas after playing the first two years of his career with Minnesota. The Vikings selected him in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft out of Clemson. He suited up in just six games during his rookie campaign, undergoing knee surgery that November.

He rebounded to appear in all 17 games with one start in 2023, tallying eight tackles (seven solo), and one pass defended. Buried on Minnesota’s depth chart, however, Booth now gets a much-needed fresh start in Dallas.

Andrew Booth gets a fresh start with Cowboys

Alec Lewis of The Athletic wrote this week that while Booth was healthy, he wasn’t getting much action in training camp.

“Booth is healthy but he has rarely played,” Lewis wrote. “Duke Shelley, [Jay] Ward and [Dwight] McGlothern have taken most of the snaps with the No. 2 defense. A.J. Green III and 2023 undrafted cornerback Jaylin Williams have earned as many — if not more — reps than Booth. Similar to [Lewis] Cine, the Vikings would be dinged about $1.7 million by cutting him, but that’s a minor tax to hang onto someone like [Gabriel] Murphy or McGlothern who could become major contributors.”

While at Clemson, Booth earned first-team All-ACC honors in 2021. He was a true freshman contributor and tallied five interceptions in his final two collegiate seasons.

Meanwhile, Wright, 25, was the Cowboys’ third-round pick (99th overall) in 2021 out of Oregon State. He has suited up in 32 games with three starts over the last three seasons, recording 37 tackles (27 solo), five passes defended and one interception. Wright is quality depth for Minnesota. He owns a career 78.0 run defense grade, per Pro Football Focus.