After cutting their entire roster just over a week ago, the Minnesota RØKKR have announced the signings of Preston "Priestahh" Greiner, Michael "MajorManiak" Szymaniak, Dillon "Attach" Price and Lamar "Accuracy" Abedi.
2021 is going to be ❄@Priestahh, @Attach, @majormaniak, and @AccuracyLA
Welcome to #ROKKR pic.twitter.com/fsRedJsMhK
- Minnesota RØKKR (@ROKKR) September 15, 2020
Priestahh and MajorManiak join Minnesota from the Atlanta FaZe, who finished second in the Call of Duty League's inaugural season. Attach and Accuracy trade in their New York Subliners kits in favor of the RØKKR.
"I'm very excited to be working with one of the premier teams in the CoD league," Attach told ESPN. "Their content, coaching staff and overall organization is filled with hardworking people who care a ton about the Esports community. The new team is something I've always dreamed of when it comes to teammates. Smart, hard working and insanely talented players who will do anything to improve every single day. I couldn't be happier with the team we formed."
MORE: Call of Duty free agency news, rumors and rosters
After a strong start while the league was played in person at home series events, the ROKKR struggled when CDL moved to an online format due to COVID and ended the regular season in eighth place. Minnesota bowed out of the playoffs early after two consecutive series losses. On September 8, the team released all seven players on its roster.
"We had many moments to be proud of during our inaugural season, but ultimately determined we needed to move aggressively to pursue a championship caliber roster for the 2021 season," said Brett Diamond, chief operating officer in the team's announcement release. "Once we learned these players were available, there was no question this was the group we wanted to bring into the Minnesota RØKKR family. We are fortunate to have an incredibly supportive ownership group. The Wilf family continues to show their dedication to providing the resources to build a winning organization, and Gary Vaynerchuk was an influential voice in recruiting the players."
CDL free agency has ramped up significantly with the announcement that the league will be contested in teams of four instead of five, shrinking available starting positions league wide by 20%. ESPN also reported that the league will not increase the number of teams competing this year, with an eye on expansion in 2022.