Exploring a Danielle Hunter Trade
Josh Frey
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The Minnesota Vikings have a lot of choices to make this offseason, and one of them regards the future of Danielle Hunter with the franchise. Hunter has been one of the best young pass rushers in the NFL when he’s been healthy. The key work here is healthy. Over the course of the past two seasons, the 27-year-old has played in seven of a possible 33 games, less than 20%. This included missing the entire 2020 season because of the infamous “tweak” in his neck.
After a contract restructure last offseason, Hunter now carries a cap hit of $26.1 million going into 2022. That is the eighth highest hit among all EDGE players; something that is a bargain if Hunter is healthy and playing at full capacity. However, if he misses more time, that money essentially goes into the paper shredder. The Vikings already find themselves in a less-than-ideal cap situation this offseason, currently sitting at $15 million over the cap going into 2022, per Over The Cap. That is the fourth-worst cap position in the NFL ahead of only the Saints, Packers, and Cowboys.Because of these cap issues along with Hunter’s health concerns, would it make sense for the Vikings to explore a trade for him? I would argue yes if a few circumstances play out.
Is a Scheme Change Imminent for the Defense?
With the Vikings seemingly ready to bring in Ed Donatell as the defensive coordinator alongside head coach Kevin O’Connell, there seems to be a chance that Minnesota could move towards a 3-4 defense rather than the 4-3 that they’ve been playing in recent years. Of course, Hunter’s skillset could adapt to playing a 3-4 defense, where he has to play some OLB, but how effective would he be when forced to step back in coverage? It’s hard to say as we’ve never really seen it before.
Perhaps Donatell envisions a complete overhaul of this defense with a new scheme. Eric Kendricks is likely safe in this scenario along with Michael Pierce and Dalvin Tomlinson, but it’s hard to say anyone else along the front seven is a lock to stay put.
A Top-10 Pick Return?
With Danielle Hunter’s large cap hit in 2022, there are only a couple teams that could feasibly make a trade for him. One of these teams happens to be a franchise that Minnesota has struck multiple deals with in the past calendar year. The New York Jets and the Minnesota Vikings swapped some picks in the 2021 NFL Draft, and then New York also sent Minnesota TE Chris Herndon ahead of the regular season in the wake of the Irv Smith Jr. injury. The Jets also carry over $48 million in cap space this offseason and could be buyers in 2022.
A third trade would be the rubber match between these two teams, and the swap could end up being Hunter for the 10th overall pick; a price tag for the star EDGE that may seem high if New York didn’t also hold No. 4 in this year’s draft. For the Jets, acquiring Danielle Hunter takes much of the pressure off to find an EDGE at the top of this draft class, and they can use No. 4 to address one of their many other needs. This could be any of Kyle Hamilton, Evan Neal, Ikem Okwonu,
As for the Vikings, this also opens up boatloads of options for them in the draft with two picks inside the top 12. One of their biggest needs in this draft class is at cornerback, and the top player at that position looks like Ahmad Gardner right now. By gaining another draft pick, Minnesota makes it much more likely that they can snatch him up. Then at 12, maybe they can address some needs at LB, or even take Tyler Linderbaum with less concern about their secondary. Or, let’s get real crazy, could they snag two of the top CBs in an extremely talented class?
Either way, a trade with New York would make a lot of sense if Minnesota can get some real draft capital. That said, there’s always the chance that the Jets wouldn’t want to take a chance on Hunter’s health in 2022. There’s also the chance that the Vikings could restructure Hunter’s contract to make it more team-friendly this season. A trade should be something in the back of their minds though regardless of the team if they can get a proper return package.