The Vikings are reportedly shopping Danielle Hunter, but coach Kevin O’Connell said Saturday that he continues to have daily dialogue with the disgruntled edge rusher and hopes a resolution can be reached that will get the veteran back on the practice field.
“We are still kind of in that ongoing process daily where Danielle is in the building,” O’Connell said as the Vikings prepared for their fourth day of practice at TCO Performance Center. “I’m having daily dialogue personally with him. … My hope is that we can work towards him being out on the practice field sooner rather than later. He’s been great and just looking forward to taking it a day at a time. I have not tried to hide my feelings. Danielle Hunter is a very special player and as soon as we can get him out here you guys will see him out here and our fans will see him out here.”
Whether Hunter ever appears on the practice field wearing a Vikings jersey remains a question. He is entering the final season of his contract and only has a base salary of $4.9 million, putting him well below what most edge rushers of his stature make.
Hunter reported to the Vikings on Tuesday but has not been seen on the practice field, or even watching practice this week as he conducts what appears to be a “hold-in.” Hunter’s presence allows him to avoid a daily fine of $50,000.
The 28-year-old led the Vikings with 10.5 sacks last season and his 71 sacks place him fifth on the team’s all-time list. Hunter is reportedly seeking a long-term contract but the team is looking to do a shorter deal.
O’Connell declined to get into the specifics of Hunter’s daily schedule inside TCO Performance Center but said the situation is a daily topic of conversation between the player and coach.
O’Connell didn’t hide his feelings about the situation, saying, “we continue to work toward that positive outcome, positive solution … having him hopefully in purple will be my choice on that.”
O’Connell and the Viking haven’t used the words “hold in” but this process began during OTAs and minicamp as Hunter didn’t show at both. He was fined for missing the two-day minicamp.
Asked if there was anything of a physical nature keeping Hunter off the field O’Connell said:
“I think there’s a lot of aspects of it when you really start communicating with the player, like I have with Danielle and just, for the most part, the idea of making sure we use the time that we have so that not only we feel really good about his personal situation but, more importantly, Danielle feels really good about the situation. So a lot goes into it. … The day-to-day communication is probably the most important thing for me and he’s been great about that.”
