The Vikings’ attempt to get Danielle Hunter on the practice field and end his “hold in,” appeared to be headed in the wrong direction Saturday morning.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported the Vikings were open to trading the star pass rusher after he stayed away from offseason workouts and the first three days of training camp practices because of his desire for a new contract that would replace the $4.9 million base salary he was owed for 2023.
Shortly after Fowler’s report, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell presented a different side of things when asked multiple questions about Hunter’s situation. Hunter had avoided being fined $50,000 a day during camp by showing up at TCO Performance Center but he wasn’t present for practices.
“We are still kind of in that ongoing process daily where Danielle is in the building,” O’Connell said. “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.”
This response could have been interpreted two ways: 1) O’Connell was simply deflecting the question and wasn’t prepared to say that Hunter was most likely going to be traded. 2) O’Connell knew far more than we did and was confident something would get done.
It proved to be the latter scenario. Hunter reportedly agreed to a one-year contract on Sunday morning that will pay him $17 million guaranteed with $3 million in incentives tied to sacks.
Let’s take a look at what this agreement means from a few different angles.
Hunter's decision to take below-market contract in 2018 set the wheels in motion for his disgruntlement
To understand why Hunter refused to play on a ridiculously low base salary for 2023, you need to go back five years to when he signed a five-year, $72 million deal.
Hunter, a third-round pick by the Vikings in 2015, had established himself as an elite defensive end in his first three seasons (25.5 sacks) and figured to cash in when he hit free agency in 2019. Instead, Hunter, his agent and the Vikings agreed to a head-scratching deal that became a headache for everyone involved.
Not only was Hunter not being paid like other top pass rushers, but the reality of how short an NFL career can be hit home in 2020 when he missed the season after having surgery to fix a herniated disc in his neck. Hunter’s injury was a scary one but his value grew in his absence.
He had 14.5 sacks for the second consecutive season in 2019 as the Vikings finished tied for fifth in the NFL with 48 sacks. Without Hunter, the Vikings fell to 28th in the league with only 23 sacks and went from being a 10-6 playoff team to a 7-9 team that missed the postseason.
Hunter was set to sit out the Vikings’ mandatory minicamp in 2021, but a restructure of his contract bought both sides some time.
The Vikings converted $5.6 million of Hunter’s 2021 salary to a signing bonus (meaning it became fully guaranteed) and an $18 million roster bonus to be paid on the fifth day of the 2022 league year was added.
There was no new money put in the contract, meaning Hunter’s happiness was going to be short-lived.
Hunter delivered upon his return and had six sacks in seven games in 2021 before again suffering a season-ending injury. This time it was a torn pectoral muscle.
Last season, Hunter was moved to outside linebacker in the Vikings’ new 3-4 scheme under coordinator Ed Donatell and played in every game for the first time since 2019. Donatell’s defense was one of the worst in the NFL — he was fired after the season — but Hunter still had a team-leading 10.5 sacks.
As contracts for the top pass rushers continued to skyrocket, there was no way Hunter was going to play for the Vikings unless he got a significant raise.
Hunter's new agreement is a win for the Vikings
It’s reasonable to think the Vikings were willing to pay Hunter more money in the final year of his contract, but that the Hunter camp wanted more money and more term on the deal.
If that’s the case, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and salary cap guru Rob Brzezinski got the better of this deal.
The final season of Hunter’s contract was torn up and replaced by another one-year agreement that will enable the 28-year-old, he turns 29 in October, to test free agency next March. The Vikings agreed to not use the franchise tag on Hunter, which would tie him to the Vikings for another season.
Why is this a win for the Vikings?
Hunter’s age and injury history had to play a role in the team’s hesitation not to do a longer deal. The reality is that the Hunter camp missed badly by not hitting the jackpot on his second contract and that will forever haunt them.
But that’s not the Vikings’ problem. Managing their salary cap is the concern and having Hunter under contract for three to five more years likely would have meant paying him the type of money he no longer deserved in his 30s.
The Vikings already were on the hook for an $11.2 million cap hit in 2024 because of two void years built into Hunter’s contract. There is no cap hit in 2025 because the void years accelerate all to the next season.
If Hunter has a huge season, he likely will get paid by someone but it’s a bad business to reward a veteran with a large payday when you can hear the clock ticking on his career.
What will Hunter's return mean to the defense?
Listening to O’Connell discuss Hunter’s situation Saturday, it was clear whose side the coach was on and it wasn’t management. Not to say there were any problems between Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell, but this set up a perfect good cop, bad cop situation.
O’Connell, and new defensive coordinator Brian Flores, knew that improving one of the NFL’s worst defenses would be far more difficult if Hunter were traded and the starting pass-rush duo was D.J. Wonnum and Marcus Davenport.
O’Connell’s approach was to keep Hunter as happy as possible and hope that a deal got done. Many think the Vikings’ defense still will be terrible under Flores but I’m not sure it will.
Will Flores have a Top 10 defense? Probably not. But Flores is installing a new more aggressive scheme that should keep offenses far more off balance than they were when facing Donatell’s passive scheme.
Some felt Hunter had a down season last year, but you can make a case he thrived considering how he was used. Flores isn’t going to make the same mistake and the Vikings’ defense should be the beneficiary.
Davenport, whose sack total dropped from nine in 2021 to a half-sack in 2022, should benefit from Hunter’s presence after he signed a one-year, $13 million contract as a free agent this offseason. Davenport’s base salary is only $1.5 million and this is a prove-it deal.
An effective pass rush is essential for the Vikings considering the question marks the team has with a group of young cornerbacks. Getting pressure should relieve some of the stress on the secondary.
What does Hunter being in the final season of his contract mean for the Vikings' future?
This one is interesting.
The Vikings are a better team with Hunter but should they have moved him for a Day 2 draft pick in the second or third round?
That all depends on how much you want the Vikings to try to win now. The reality is that at some point the Vikings are going to have to pay the price for some of the big contracts they have given out and that day is coming.
Hunter is set to be joined in free agency after the season by quarterback Kirk Cousins, wide receiver K.J. Osborn and tight end T.J. Hockenson. Hockenson is likely to get an extension in the coming months but the other three are a different story.
The Vikings are continuing negotiations with star wide receiver Justin Jefferson — he has two years left on his rookie contract but is eligible for an extension — and standout left tackle Christian Darrisaw will be eligible to sign an extension after this season.
The Vikings are going to have to make some difficult choices, starting with whether they want to give Cousins another rich multiyear contract or start looking for a younger, cheaper quarterback that allows salary-cap flexibility.
That is something Adofo-Mensah is likely focusing on at the moment. O’Connell, however, is in a year-to-year job, and getting Hunter on the field Monday should make 2023 a better year for the Vikings.
