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The Minnesota Vikings have a tough call to make on one of the league’s top edge rushers, and they don’t have much time to work through it.
Defensive end Danielle Hunter is one of two players already on the roster who is most likely to impact the team’s immediate future, depending in which direction new general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah decides to steer his situation. Hunter is owed an $18.5 million roster bonus on March 20 and carries a cap hit of more than $26 million in 2022, per Spotrac. Meanwhile, the Vikings need to clear or restructure upwards of $15 million in player salary to get under the cap.
Hunter, who is just 27 years old, amassed 29 sacks between 2018-19 and earned trips to the Pro Bowl both seasons. However, he missed the entirety of the 2020 season with a herniated disc and 10 games last year with a torn pectoral, though not before tallying 6 sacks in just seven appearances. Premium pass rushers are both expensive and hard to find, but the Vikings need to weigh that fact against the premium all teams must place on their highest-paid performers actually playing.
As such, Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus (PFF) wrote on Tuesday, February 22 that a trade Vikings fans should watch for this offseason is one that sends Hunter to the Buffalo Bills in return for two draft picks: a fourth-round selection in 2022 and a second-round choice in 2023.
“The roster bonus was added in the 2021 offseason to serve as a trigger date for Minnesota to either extend, trade or cut Hunter. Complicating matters is the fact he once again suffered a season-ending injury, but not before he compiled 31 quarterback pressures with an 80.8 overall grade through Week 8,” Spielberger wrote. “However, it could be too hard for Adofo-Mensah to ‘sell low’ on an elite pass-rusher.”
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Vikings Can Create Cap Space Elsewhere And Retain Hunter
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GettyDanielle Hunter, of the Minnesota Vikings, celebrates during the second half against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium on October 10, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Hunter remains under contract with Minnesota for the next several years. Should the Vikings decide to trade him this offseason, the team will still incur a dead cap hit of $11.48 million.
Hunter’s age, history of production, and the general rarity of his skill set across the NFL argue against trading him with so much dead money remaining on the team’s bill. If Minnesota decides that punting on Hunter isn’t the right move, the team does have other options.
Luke Braun of Zone Coverage explained earlier this month that instead of dropping more than $18 million on a one-time roster bonus for Hunter, the Vikings could convert that money into $4.5 million signing bonuses doled out incrementally over the remaining four years of his deal. In that scenario, Hunter’s contract would represent a cap hit of just $12.6 million next season and the Vikings would keep one of the most talented edge rushers in football on their roster.
Vikings Also Face Pivotal Offseason Decision on QB Kirk Cousins
GettyQuarterback Kirk Cousins, of the Minnesota Vikings, warms up prior to a game against the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium on January 9, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
The Vikings second big-money player personnel decision this offseason will come in the form of quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Cousins is entering the final year of his contract, which carries a $45 million cap hit in 2022. Should the Vikings move on from Cousins, they could save up to $35 million next season alone.
The only other options are to re-sign Cousins to an expensive extension or let him play out his deal and hit unrestricted free agency in 2023. If Minnesota were to choose the latter, Cousins could walk for nothing at year’s end, which would amount to the Vikings tossing a valuable trade asset in the trash.
But extending Cousins is as risky as it would be expensive. While the quarterback has put up impressive counting statistics and advanced numbers over his time in Minnesota, the team has failed to make the playoffs in each of the previous two seasons.
By trading Cousins the Vikings solve their salary cap problem, give themselves more freedom to deal with Hunter, and build ammunition to hit the free agency market and improve problem areas across the roster. However, trading Cousins would also leave a large empty space under center that Adofo-Mensah would need to fill, and options as productive as Cousins has been come few and far between.
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