{"id":89166,"date":"2024-02-06T01:25:51","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T01:25:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=89166"},"modified":"2024-02-06T01:26:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T01:26:00","slug":"vikings-gm-put-on-notice-if-65-million-star-bolts-for-new-team-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/vikings-gm-put-on-notice-if-65-million-star-bolts-for-new-team-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Vikings GM Put on Notice If $65 Million Star Bolts for New Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For the first time in his career,\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0edge rusher\u00a0Danielle Hunter\u00a0is poised to reach free agency after a career-high 16.5-sack season in 2023.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1743222267-3-e1706489162466.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Minnesota Vikings\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Vikings will likely work to extend Hunter before he reaches free agency in March. But if they cannot agree on an extension, the Vikings face losing Hunter for nothing when they could have traded him in November.<\/p>\n<p>The November 1 trade deadline came just days after\u00a0Kirk Cousins\u00a0went down with a season-ending Achilles injury that realistically plummeted the Vikings\u2019 chances at a Super Bowl. Hunter generated\u00a0plenty of interest\u00a0at the trade deadline, and the Vikings fielded calls for a trade in the offseason.<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_1_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-1 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"CJuJiOXGlYQDFQtQwgUdMOsANQ\"><\/div>\n<p>SKOR North\u2019s Judd Zulgad took issue with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah not making a move to secure draft capital in a trade involving Hunter if he does indeed leave Minnesota in March.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a season where you got off to a bad start, rebounded, and then Kirk got hurt\u2026\u00a0 you could have traded [Hunter] right before the deadline,\u201d Zulgad said in a\u00a0February 2 post on X (formerly Twitter). \u201cYeah, I think it\u2019s a big problem if Danielle Hunter walks for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">How would your view of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah change if Danielle Hunter signs with another team this offseason? \ud83e\udd14 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BJVvIm7Pcq\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/BJVvIm7Pcq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; SKOR North &#8211; Minnesota Sports (@SKORNorth) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SKORNorth\/status\/1753506099502678023?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">February 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Danielle Hunter Poised to Land Lucrative Contract Extension<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-4660457 visible aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 16px\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1832853053-e1704743027320.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Danielle Hunter, Vikings\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4660457\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-1832853053-e1704743027320.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_4660457\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p>Once the youngest player to reach 50 career sacks at the tender age of 25, Hunter saw his career hit a tailspin when he suffered a herniated disc in his neck that forced him to miss the entirety of the 2020 season.<\/p>\n<p>His 2021 campaign ended abruptly when he sustained a torn pectoral muscle the following year. The concern around Hunter\u2019s health kept the Vikings from investing long-term in the Pro Bowl edge rusher.<\/p>\n<p>However, Hunter has played every game the past two seasons to quell any questions surrounding his health in the future. Hunter had a hallmark year, ranking fifth in sacks (16.5) and tying for first in tackles for loss (23).<\/p>\n<p>Approaching his 30th birthday in 2024, Hunter hopes to cash in on one more lucrative, long-term extension. Pro Football Focus (PFF) projected Hunter to garner a\u00a0three-year, $65 million deal\u00a0with $40 million guaranteed. The $21.67 million average annual value of that contract would\u00a0rank 10th among edge rushers\u00a0ahead of 2024 free agency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cHunter was a revelation in new Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores\u2019 blitz-heavy scheme, though he was just as productive in 2022,\u201d PFF\u2019s free-agent report reads.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTeams that run a 3-4 or 4-3 could probably find a way to effectively deploy Hunter, and injury concerns of a few years ago seem like distant memories. He finished another season with 900-plus snaps, 70-plus quarterback pressures and double-digit sacks.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Vikings Are Low on Options If They Part Ways With Hunter<\/h2>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-inline wp-image-4694267 visible aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 16px\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1470263823-e1707079210949.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Kwesi Adofo-Mensah\" width=\"782\" height=\"439\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4694267\" data-lazy-load=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/GettyImages-1470263823-e1707079210949.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" \/><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_4694267\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\">\n<p>What is most impressive about Hunter\u2019s 2023 season was the fact he managed to put up career numbers without a Pro Bowl pass rusher alongside him.<\/p>\n<p>Hunter has benefited from playing opposite\u00a0Everson Griffen\u00a0and\u00a0Za\u2019Darius Smith\u00a0in his career, but this season\u2019s running mate,\u00a0Marcus Davenport, was injured for most of the season.<\/p>\n<p>Hunter also proved he\u2019s a willing run defender as well in a system that schemed pressure from every possible angle.<\/p>\n<p>If the Vikings decide to move on from Hunter, they\u2019ll need to seriously consider their options with just one of their top four edge rushers, Pat Jones II, under contract for next season.<\/p>\n<p>Hunter has expressed his desire to stay in Minnesota, however, he said at the Pro Bowl that he is looking for the best situation for himself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust letting everything play its course. I did my job. Everything\u2019s in my agent\u2019s hands and my team \u2014 and whomever it is that\u2019s out there,\u201d\u00a0Hunter told NFL.com\u00a0on February 2. \u201cMy job, like I said, is to do my job. And I\u2019m gonna make sure I stay in shape and whatever is best available for me, I\u2019ll take that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the first time in his career,\u00a0Minnesota Vikings\u00a0edge rusher\u00a0Danielle Hunter\u00a0is poised to reach free agency after a career-high 16.5-sack season in 2023. The Vikings will likely work&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}