After years of contract negotiations and restructures, Danielle Hunter is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Hunter is set to become a free agent when the five-year, $72 million contract extension he signed in 2018 ends. After a pair of season-ending injuries, Hunter has cemented himself as one of the best pass-rushers in the NFL. With 26.5 sacks over the past two seasons, including a career-high 16.5 sacks last year, he could seek the nine-figure contract he deserves.
A player like Hunter would typically be at the top of a team’s priority list. But if you think that is true, you haven’t followed the Minnesota Vikings.
Kirk Cousins is also set to become a free agent, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that Minnesota’s talks with Hunter are “on hold” until they figure out the quarterback position. But after several years of patchwork solutions, deciding to de-prioritize Hunter could lead to his departure.
Everyone knows about Hunter’s quest for a mega-deal. His initial extension seemed to be good value for the Vikings after he recorded 25.5 sacks in the first three seasons. However, it became a bargain when Hunter racked up 14.5 sacks in 2018, earning his first Pro Bowl selection and second-team All-Pro honors.
The breakout coincided with the rising value of pass-rushers in today’s NFL. With quarterbacks becoming mobile, having a freak on the edge became more of a priority for coaching staffs throughout the league. Those who hit free agency were rewarded.
Months after Hunter signed his extension in 2018, the Chicago Bears signed Khalil Mack to a six-year, $140 million contract after acquiring him from the Las Vegas Raiders. In 2019, Trey Flowers got five years, $90 million from the Detroit Lions. In 2020, Myles Garrett signed a five-year, $120 million extension with the Cleveland Browns. A few weeks later, Joey Bosa signed a five-year, $135 million extension with the Los Angeles Chargers.
It’s unclear when Hunter’s breaking point was, but seeing his peers sign mega extensions led to a push to bring things back to the negotiating table. The Vikings had done this before by renegotiating Adam Thielen’s contract after he exceeded a four-year, $19.2 million contract he signed in 2017. After two Pro Bowl seasons, Thielen signed a four-year, $64.8 million contract before the 2019 season. He also reworked his contract again with a three-year, $44.6 million extension before the 2022 season.
Thielen’s deal wasn’t the only precedent. The Vikings played salary cap gymnastics to bring back Anthony Barr in 2019. But Hunter’s case had some validity after he recorded another 14.5 sacks, made his second Pro Bowl, and was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2019. Alas, as always, the Vikings had other decisions to make.
Their 2019 playoff win over the New Orleans Saints convinced the Vikings to sign Cousins to a two-year, $66 million extension. Minnesota also had to pay Dalvin Cook, who signed a five-year, $63 million contract on the eve of the 2020 season. Meanwhile, Hunter’s contract drama dragged into OTAs before he agreed to a restructure that turned his base salary into a signing bonus.
A few months later, Hunter suffered a neck injury that forced him to miss the 2020 season. He held out from OTAs again in search of a new deal. The Vikings restructured his contract again to add a $5.6 million signing bonus, two void years, and an $18 million roster bonus in 2022.
The market continued to explode later that year when T.J. Watt agreed to a four-year, $112 million contract extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hunter returned to form, with six sacks in seven games before suffering a torn pectoral muscle. The $18 million bonus seemed like an ultimatum for Minnesota’s front office, but new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah paid the bonus to run things back for 2022.
In his first healthy season since 2019, Hunter recorded 10.5 sacks even though Ed Donatell occasionally miscast him as a coverage linebacker. The market experienced another boom when the Miami Dolphins signed Bradley Chubb to a five-year, $110 million contract after acquiring him at the trade deadline. Hunter once again held out for a new deal.
But the Vikings were in a transition phase. They released Cook, Thielen, and Eric Kendricks to create flexibility for the future. While Hunter wanted a new deal, the front office wanted to keep their options open, leading to a one-year, $20 million contract with incentives and a no-franchise-tag clause at the end of the season.
Hunter is finally headed toward free agency after enjoying a career year under Brian Flores. But again, a new contract isn’t a given, considering Minnesota’s other objectives this spring.
The quarterback position is critical to the Vikings, whose goal is to remain “super competitive” or “in the hunt” every year. Adofo-Mensah has mentioned the delicate balance of the quarterback position before. Whichever decision he takes with Cousins will send shockwaves throughout the rest of the offseason.
Justin Jefferson‘s pending extension complicates matters. Jefferson will get paid, but we also thought that would happen a year ago. With both sides unable to reach a deal before the start of last season, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that Jefferson wants an answer at the quarterback position before signing a long-term deal, placing more pressure to find a solution.
With Christian Darrisaw also expected to enter contract talks, Hunter could once again be the odd man out. But he’s arguably just as important as Minnesota’s other core players.
Minnesota’s depth chart at edge rusher is lean, with Marcus Davenport and D.J. Wonnum expected to be free agents. Wonnum’s torn quadriceps injury could deflate his cost, but it could also delay his return until midway through the 2024 season. The Vikings also have Patrick Jones III and UDFA Andre Carter II on the roster. However, neither has shown the type of pass-rushing chops that Hunter has during his career.
The Vikings’ answer to this could be to draft an edge rusher in the first round, but that’s also complicated. High-upside players with minimal production could slip through the cracks as Hunter did when Minnesota took him in the third round in 2018. But teams are more willing to gamble on tools at edge rusher.
One of Hunter’s potential suitors, the Jacksonville Jaguars, already found themselves in this position. They drafted K’Lavon Chaisson 20th overall in 2020, passing over Aidan Hutchinson in favor of Travon Walker in 2022.
Alabama’s Dallas Turner and Florida State’s Jared Verse have a record of production in their collegiate careers, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be as effective as Hunter.
The same theory scares people away when talking about quarterbacks, fearing they become entangled with the next Christian Ponder. But it’s just as likely that the Vikings could be drafting the next Derrick Harvey when they instead traded for Jared Allen in 2018.
Hunter will be 30 in October, and injury history could scare the Vikings away. But he’s a vital member of a supporting cast. If the Vikings take a quarterback early in the draft, Hunter would be the focal point of a defense that could immediately help carry the rookie to contention. Suppose Hunter leaves. Then that young quarterback could be in the same position Cousins was in the last few years, doing his job adequately but suffering from a porous defense.
The Vikings can’t offer a Band-Aid to make things work again. Hunter can go get the biggest deal on the market if his heart desires. The hope is that Minnesota’s culture could convince him to stay, but they’ve shelved him so many times that it could be too late.
It’s why putting Hunter on the back burner again could be a mistake — and why things could boil over in the spring.
