Breaking: Vikings Set to Cut Ties With $72 Million Pro Bowler
The Minnesota Vikings have reached a crossroads with Pro Bowl edge rusher Danielle Hunter — and it appears unlikely that Hunter will return after nine years in Minnesota.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported on February 10 that the buzz at Super Bowl week in Las Vegas was all about Hunter, who is poised to command a “strong market” in free agency. Fowler added that several teams were interested in Hunter at the trade deadline — namely, the Chicago Bears, who are “very high” on Hunter, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, who inquired about Hunter last year.
Considering the interest that has already surfaced publicly about Hunter, who turns 29 this summer, Purple Insider’s Matthew Coller corroborated Fowler’s report from a local level.
“I feel like Danielle Hunter is not coming back. It just doesn’t seem like, considering how much other teams are going to be willing to give him,” Coller said on a February 10 episode of the “Purple Insider” podcast, adding that the Vikings won’t be willing to match other teams’ offers given their current finances.
“It just seems like somebody is going to go all-in on Danielle Hunter,” Coller added.
Vikings’ Decision on Kirk Cousins Impacting Danielle Hunter Negotiations: Report
Alongside Fowler’s report on Hunter, ESPN insider Dan Graziano noted that the Vikings’ negotiations with Hunter have been put “on hold” until the team decides on Kirk Cousins’ future.
The duo are two of the team’s highest-paid players on their respective sides of the ball and carry massive dead cap hits if they do not re-sign before the start of free agency on March 13.
Cousins has $28.5 million in prorated bonuses that would accelerate onto the 2024 cap sheet if he walks, while Hunter has $14.9 million in potential dead cap if he does not re-sign, according to Over the Cap.
The decision on Cousins is the first domino that will fall this offseason.
The new Vikings regime has drawn a line with many of the team’s most beloved players to clear out backloaded veteran contracts. They’ve expressed a desire to keep these players around, but at a price point that makes sense for the team’s future after years of restructures and extensions created temporary cap relief at the expense of the future. That led to the departures of Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen and Eric Kendricks last season.
This spring, there’s a timeline where neither Cousins nor Hunter are re-signed and the Vikings bite the bullet, eating their combined $43.4 million in dead cap that would greatly hinder their ability to build a roster for 2024.
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