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Early on Monday afternoon, news came down that rocked the NFL and the sports world in general, as Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the Kansas City Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes had come to an agreement on a ten. . .ten. . .year contract extension. Terms of the deal have not yet been released, but seriously. . .it’s going to be for a whole ton of money. Perhaps even. . .
raises pinky finger to mouth
Half a billion dollars.
The ten-year extension means that Mahomes could, potentially, be under the Chiefs’ control through the 2031 season, though it will be interesting to see how things are structured. That’s always the way with NFL contracts.
In light of this, however, I’m wondering. . .is there a current Minnesota Vikings player that would be worthy of a ten-year contract extension? I think there is.
If you look at what Danielle Hunter has done in the early part of his NFL career, it’s awfully damn impressive. As we know, he was the youngest player in NFL history to reach the 50-sack plateau this past season, as well as collecting more quarterback sacks before the age of 25 than any player in NFL history. He’s already been in the NFL for five seasons, which is hard to believe, and might not be close to reaching his prime yet.
As we’ve seen over the years, pass rushers can be very good for a very long time in the National Football League, and a player of Hunter’s caliber that is showing no signs of slowing down could be the centerpiece of the Vikings’ defense for a very long time. He is already signed through the 2023 season thanks to his last extension, so a ten-year extension would potentially (depending on how things are structured) keep him in purple until 2033, when he would be 39 years old.
Would Hunter actually see all of that contract extension? Probably not, with the way NFL contracts generally work. But the team would likely have him under wraps for the majority of that time.
I can’t think of another member of the Vikings that would be worthy of the sort of contract extension that Patrick Mahomes just received. Obviously, Hunter wouldn’t be getting quarterback money or anything like that, but he occupies a very valuable position in the Vikings’ defense, and inking him to that kind of extension would definitely make a statement.
Do you think Danielle Hunter is worthy of that sort of contract extension, folks? Is there a member of the Vikings that I’m missing that might deserve similar treatment?