Breaking: Vikings’ working hard to sign Breakout  $14.5 million Pass-Rusher

The Minnesota Vikings will soon be in the market for pass-rushers and a good fit is currently languishing in the AFC East on the final year of his rookie deal.

Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus on Friday, December 1, named New England Patriots edge-rusher Josh Uche a top free-agent prospect for the Vikings in 2024 as they face potentially significant turnover at the position.

Minnesota still has a big decision to make on pending free agent Danielle Hunter and, beyond that, needs to add a ton of talent at edge defender to bolster this pass rush and enable the front four to get home without blitzing at a league-leading rate.

Uche has been remarkably efficient rushing the passer since a breakout 2022 season, but he is still logging around only 25 snaps a game as more of a rotational player. Uche has notched at least one quarterback pressure in every game this season on his way to a 17.7% pressure rate, picking up where he left off last season with 56 pressures on 285 pass-rush reps.

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Josh Uche Produced Monster Campaign for Patriots in 2022

New England selected Uche in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Michigan (No. 60 overall). He is playing on the final season of his four-year, $5.4 million rookie contract and is set to hit free agency next spring unless the Patriots use the franchise tag to keep him, which is unlikely given his rotational role on the defense.

However, Uche appeared ready after last season to take a step into a larger role.The 25-year-old outside linebacker produced a career-year highlighted by 14 QB hits, 11.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles across 15 games, per Pro Football Reference.

Uche has just 2.0 sacks in nine games played this season, though has continued to apply pressure at a high rate, which doesn’t show up on the stat sheet but does create a meaningful impact on the game week in and week out.

Josh Uche Poised for Big Pay Day Next Offseason, Possibly from Vikings

As a result of his production, Uche has set himself up for a big pay day in 2024. Spotrac projects his market value at $14.5 million annually over a new four-year deal. That’s a significant number, though only about half as much as the top annual average salaries of the highest-paid pass-rushers in the NFL, per Over The Cap.

Given his age and projected salary cap number, Uche may be a preferred alternative to Hunter in Minnesota. Hunter has been awesome this season, with a league-leading 18 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks through 12 games. However, he has a significant history of recent injury, missing the entirety of the 2020 campaign and playing in just seven games the following year.

When healthy, Hunter has been a Pro Bowler — earning the honor in three of the previous five years and now all but a lock to earn it again in 2023. But Hunter will turn 30 years old next season and is sure to be seeking a pricey multiyear contract.

The Vikings chose not to extend the outside linebacker last offseason, instead upping his salary to $17 million guaranteed with the opportunity to earn $20 million in incentives. Minnesota also included a clause in the deal that disallows the team from applying the franchise tag to keep Hunter in Minneapolis on a one-year deal in 2024.

As such, re-signing Hunter is an expensive and somewhat risky proposition. The Vikings may also need to replace edge-rusher Marcus Davenport after this season. Minnesota signed Davenport to a one-year, $13 million deal in free agency, though injuries have sidelined him for all but four games in 2023.