A Danielle Hunter Trade Would Be Confusing on a Number of Levels
The Minnesota Vikings have been relatively quiet to this point in free agency, but they are making wavelengths on the rumor mill. The latest edition of these whispers has been a potential trade involving their star pass-rusher, Danielle Hunter. This would obviously mean huge implications for a player of Hunter’s caliber. He is arguably a top-three player on the roster when healthy and can make an immediate impact for any team. Because of this, it seems like a strange time to be shopping Hunter for a couple of reasons.
Draft Picks
One of the key arguments here in favor of trading Danielle Hunter has to do with the draft capital that it could afford Minnesota. It’s feasible to believe that the Vikings could get a first-round pick for the two-time Pro Bowler. Maybe they could even get an additional late round pick, but they probably won’t get much more than that.
As good as some of these pass rushers in the class are, what are the chances that a first rounder is going to replace Danielle Hunter? I’d say very low. Additionally, the Vikings seem committed to winning now after the extension of QB Kirk Cousins. It feels like keeping one of your best players should be a priority if that is truly the goal.
Finances
Obviously, Danielle Hunter carries a very large cap hit right now. He brings with him $26.1 million of baggage, but Minnesota could relieve nearly $19 million of that hit with a trade. Another argument could be made that the Vikings should trade Hunter in order to free up space for free agents. This is probably the most sound argument in my opinion, and it’s one that I would have understood a week and a half ago when free agency was just beginning.
Now though? It isn’t a great strategy given how many of the top free agents already are off the board. An especially high number of the quality interior offensive linemen have been signed to lucrative deals. In addition to that, if money is the biggest concern, why not just restructure the contract? The Vikings do not need Hunter’s permission in order to do that, so this should have been done a while ago if money is the biggest issue.
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Health
The elephant in the room regarding Hunter is definitely his health. He’s played just seven out of a possible 33 games over the past two seasons, and it has left a massive void along the defensive line for the Vikings. The combination of a neck injury and torn pec have completely derailed the past two seasons for Hunter, so perhaps the Vikings simply don’t want to deal with the headache of trying to predict how healthy he will be.
The bright side of this is that if Hunter was able to overcome that neck injury to get back to the peak of his powers at the beginning of 2021, there’s a good chance he can overcome a freak injury like a torn pec. On the other side though, if Minnesota has enough concern to want to offload Hunter during a “win-now” tenure, why would other teams want to bring him in at a premier price tag? Finally, the Vikings top free agent target right now is Zadarius Smith; someone who missed 16 games in 2021. It seems like Minnesota would be going from one injury question mark to another, and either of them will cost a lot of money.
Final Thoughts
It would be very confusing based on the criteria above for the Minnesota Vikings to try and offload Danielle Hunter ahead of 2022. There is very little chance the Vikings find a more valuable player in terms of price and skill at the EDGE spot. However, there is one overlooked reason why the two sides may part ways.
At the end of the day, there is one thing that may determine whether or not Danielle Hunter is traded. That factor simply is his desire to be in Minnesota. Perhaps that desire to wear purple is waning after a couple very frustrating years. It’s the only reason why Minnesota wouldn’t have tried to restructure his contract, and it may ultimately be why the Vikings are shopping him. Either way, the decision is looming over what the franchise decides to do moving forward.
