Rumor Mill Continues to Connect Danielle Hunter to a Certain AFC Team
Unless the Minnesota Vikings are able to agree to terms on a contract extension with Danielle Hunter in the coming weeks, he is set to hit free agency on March 13th.
If Hunter does hit the open market this spring, he will likely garner lots of attention from many different teams. However, one AFC team in particular has continuously been connected to Hunter in the rumor mill. That team is the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Rumor Mill Continues Connecting Danielle Hunter to AFC Team
Paul Allen of KFAN said on-air this week, “Alec Lewis (The Athletic) dropped the Jaguars the other day because I can tell he’s getting his snoop on and that makes sense, and I happen to think he’s right … I’d bet here or Jacksonville.”
Vikings fans will remember that this isn’t the first time that Hunter has been connected to the Jaguars. Before Hunter signed his new deal to end his hold-in with the Vikings during training camp last year, Jacksonville was theorized as a common landing spot for the pass rusher.
SI.com’s Will Ragatz wrote about the idea, “One interesting subplot that fans have noticed is that Hunter is following the Jacksonville Jaguars’ official account on Instagram. Other than the Vikings, it’s the only team account he follows. That might mean absolutely nothing, but at the very least, it’s one of those things that makes people go ‘hmmm’ and break out the eyeball emojis on Twitter.”
This year, though, it wouldn’t require a trade for Hunter to head to the Jaguars. He could simply sign with them in free agency.
It would take a lot of cash to bring in one of the top pass rushers on the market, but the Jaguars do have about $24 million in cap space right now and could free up even more this spring with a few other moves.
Jacksonville is expected to franchise tag Josh Allen (the defender, not the quarterback) as well, so bringing in Hunter alongside Allen would create a fearsome duo that combined for 34 sacks during the 2023 campaign with their respective teams.
For now, though, Hunter still needs to think about whether or not he wishes to re-sign with the Vikings via a contract extension. The pass rusher has stated in the past that he wants to be a Viking for life, so we shall soon see if that sentiment remains true in a few weeks.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Over the Cap and Pro Football Reference.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.