Courtesy of Vikings Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
The Minnesota Vikings’ free agency has sounded off with a whimper and less of a roar.
Minnesota made a few budget deals but is still up against the salary cap, while many of the league’s most talented players in free agency are already off the board.
The Vikings’ restructuring Kirk Cousins’ contract got Minnesota under the salary cap, but their next most significant move to provide some cap relief remains incomplete.
Minnesota can convert two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Danielle Hunter‘s $18 million roster bonus to a signing bonus and create $13.5 million in cap space — which would be enough to sign a starting-caliber offensive lineman or a cornerback. That can be done without Hunter’s consent.
However, it remains on the back burner with the deadline for Hunter’s roster bonus to become guaranteed on March 21.
The Vikings have time, but it appears they’re trying to work out a different deal with Hunter.
A trade.
The latest Vikings news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Vikings newsletter here!
Star Tribune: Vikings Trying to Trade Hunter
GettyDanielle Hunter
Star Tribune beat reporter Ben Goessling reported on March 16 that the Vikings “say they’ve been trying to trade Danielle Hunter, who’s got an $18 million roster bonus due on Sunday.
“Hunter has a $25.83M cap figure. The Vikings need to clear space to make their new deals official.”
Hunter was the youngest player to reach 50 career sacks in NFL history coming off the 2019 season. But in 2020, he suffered a herniated disc in his neck and underwent season-ending neck surgery.
The Vikings restructured Hunter’s contract in the 2021 offseason, adding more guaranteed money to the deal and adding void years to the contract to push those earnings further down the road. It was a win-win for both sides looking to see how Hunter would return.
He proved he’s every bit the same player in 2021, posting six sacks in seven games before suffering a torn pectoral injury this season.
Die-hard Vikings fan? Follow the Heavy on Vikings Facebook page for the latest breaking news, rumors and content from Skol Nation!
Danielle Hunter against the Cardinals: 7 pressures, 4 hurries, 3 sacks, 7 tackles, 81.2 overall PFF grade.
He’s second in the league in sacks and looked like his pre-injury self on Sunday.
Vikings Would Be Ill-Advised to Trade Hunter
Minnesota extending Cousins was a commitment that the franchise is still in win-now mode and noncommittal to a rebuild.
But trading away the team’s best player on defense, at the most important position in a passing league, would be a detrimental move against the team’s success.
Having Cousins, but not Hunter, feels like one step forward and one step back.
Why Minnesota hasn’t already converted his roster bonus is unclear. It could be because Hunter is garnering considerable capital in trade talks. The two sides could also be working out a contract extension.
If and when the Vikings restructure Hunter’s contract, he’ll carry a $12.6 million cap hit in 2022 instead, ranking 23rd among edge rushers next season — a reasonable price tag for the 27-year-old edge rusher who was the fastest player to reach 50 career sacks and showed he was every bit his old self after neck surgery in 2021.
For what it’s worth, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said the first player he called upon taking the job was Hunter.
“Danielle was one of the first people I spoke with,” Adofo-Mensah said, per Vikings.com. “Really good player. Really good person. He’s a really good football player and to build a championship team you need a lot of really good football players. He’s someone we want to work with going forward.”