Getty Outside linebacker Danielle Hunter of the Minnesota Vikings looks on prior to a game against the Indianapolis Colts in December 2022.
Danielle Hunter’s holdout from the Minnesota Vikings‘ mandatory minicamp officially puts the franchise at a crossroads with its best defender.
Hunter is seeking a lucrative contract extension, and the Vikings appear willing to give the star edge rusher a significant bump in his pay.
So where’s the catch?
Hunter’s agent could be playing “some serious hardball” after he negotiated the star’s last deal that left Hunter significantly underpaid, according to SKOR North’s Declan Goff.
“I was told that the agent for Danielle Hunter is playing some serious hardball, making negotiations a little more difficult than it was anticipated,” Goff said on June 13.
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson added that Minnesota is willing to bump Hunter’s pay significantly after previous restructures left Hunter with just $5.5 million in cash to earn this season, which ranks 56th among edge rushers this season.
The History of Danielle Hunter’s Displeasure His Contract
Hunter’s agent, Zeke Sandhu, has an established rapport with the Vikings front office and effectively negotiated the signing of former Arizona Cardinals cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. back in March.
However, Sandhu also negotiated a bad contract for Hunter five years ago.
“You go back to the last deal that Danielle did the agent failed miserably. That was a horrible contract,” Wolfson said. “This is me maybe opining more than informing, but Zeke [Hunter’s agent] is trying to save face… after he failed his client so badly last time around.”
Agreeing to a five-year, $72 million contract in 2018, Hunter quickly outplayed the contract, posting a league-leading 154 pressures across the 2018 and 2019 seasons, per Pro Football Focus, and the third-most sacks (29.0) among all NFL defenders.
The deal became outdated as soon as it was signed, and Hunter likely could have renegotiated a deal before he suffered a neck injury in 2020 that put his playing career into question. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Hunter would go undergo season-ending surgery that October before adding a significant detail seemingly out of left field.
“MIN has a decision this offseason: Make Hunter the highest-paid defender in football or trade him,” Rapoport tweeted in 2020. “Have we seen the last of him in a Vikings uniform?”
#Vikings star Danielle Hunter is having surgery to clean up a herniated disc, knocking him out for 2020, per me & @TomPelissero. MIN has a decision this offseason: Make Hunter the highest-paid defender in football or trade him. Have we seen the last of him in a Vikings uniform👀
That sparked what has become a perennial tension between the Vikings and Hunter’s camp, which has sought to make up for the lighter years at the front of his contract.
After Hunter was reported to be “unhappy” with his contract entering the 2021 offseason, former general manager Rick Spielman restructured Hunter’s contract to allow him to enter a prove-it year by creating an $18 million signing bonus on the books that would toll five days into the 2022 league year.
The new regime, still needing to see if Hunter could play a full season, respected the restructure despite Hunter suffering a season-ending torn pectoral injury eight games into the 2021 season. He put forth a healthy season and finished top 10 in pressures for the first time since 2019.
However, The Vikings accelerating money in the contract to keep Hunter happy has left the remaining cash ($5.5 million) comparable to a backup at his position after he showed he’s still one of the top pass rushers in the league.
“There is no question agreeing to that contract in 2018 is one of the better deals the Vikings have gotten but it has bit them in the a** because at every turn it has been so undervalued,” SKOR North’s Judd Zulgad said. “They shoved cash upfront. Danielle Hunter being due a payday at 5.5 million was never supposed to happen.”
What Danielle Hunter’s New Deal May Look With Vikings
The price of a premium edge rusher in the NFL isn’t cheap, and Minnesota appears prepared to pay Hunter.
That rate will likely be in the ballpark of $20 million a season. What could be a contentious point is the duration of a deal as Hunter, who was once the youngest player to reach 50 career sacks at the age of 25, is now approaching the decline of his prime at the age of 28.
Last season showed that Hunter benefited from Za’Darius Smith being double-teamed more frequently. He wasn’t quite among the league’s elite pass rushers when it comes to beating the double team. This chart shows Hunter among a cluster in the bottom right of pass rushers who saw fewer double teams but didn’t win the snap as frequently as the league’s top pass rushers.
Double team rate at Edge (x) by pass rush win rate at Edge (y) for the 2022 NFL season.
(ESPN / NFL Next Gen Stats)
He’s benefited from having high-caliber running mates opposite of him like Everson Griffen and Smith. That likely makes paying him as much as T.J. Watt or Myles Garrett out of the question.
A comparable contract could be Bradley Chubb, who is on a deal worth $22 million annually.
I’m disgusted by these high almighty agents and the way they manipulate their young clients to hold out for the highest pay in the world just for a bigger commission and ego!