FanPost

What is Danielle Hunters Worth?

Good evening everyone

Hope you all survived the ups and downs of FA as we saw the spending spree that is the NFL even with not alot of money some top FA's went for big money. Some of DN's most notable personalities favorites all sign with other teams

Joe Thuney- Kansas City- 5 years 80 Million

Leonard Williams- NY Giants- 3 years 63 Million

Brandon Scherff- Sign Franchise Tag with Washington "Redskins"

Thuney was the most popular add on DN as alot of folks were hoping we would land the former Patriot. Aside the money that the Cheifs threw at him another thing that made me nervous about signing Thuney was the track record of OL that leave NE and go elsewhere don't do well and ultimately end up back in NE. KC is in win now mode with Mahomes and a company so by all means throw the money at him. Hopefully Thuney is better than the last big G signing in Andrew Norwell who went to Jacksonville to ultimately retire it seems.

Another interesting signing was Dak Prescott who signed a massive 4 year 160 million contract. A deal that pays Dak a AVG of 42 million a year. You think about where the league is going its a veteran team winning on a Rookie QB's contract. The exception is Tom Brady who seems to keep figuring it out taking pay cuts or extensions to keep the team together and fans want to know how Tom continues to win SB's? I know in the past I've been right there with alot of you calling for Rick to be fired and yes he's had his fair share of misses but we seem to be trending in a opposite direction than the league. We have one of the youngest teams in the NFL "6th" but with a Veteran QB with a affordable contract based on the deal that Mahomes, Watson, Prescott have all gotten in the past 2 years. I think guys like Josh Allen, and Baker Mayfield will also command money north of 160 million in a year or two. So what does that mean for us? well quietly RS and the cap guru Rob knew what they were doing when they signed Cousins and now we have a window opening again to make a run at a SB.

Now to what this FP was originally about and that's Danielle Hunter and his status with the Vikings. If you regular DN's readers have read my posts in the past I have been steadfast on trading Hunter as I don't think he wants to be apart of a rebuild and I think the team is reluctant to sign him to a extension coming off a neck injury. If you read the daily headlines there are many of these linking Hunter to trade destinations so I thought I would dive into what Hunter's value is to each suitor including us

Vikings

I make no excuse hunter "is" this teams pass rush and it was evident just how much we missed him in 2020 along with Barr. The Vikings ranked 28th last year in sacks with a Traded Yannick Ngakoue leading the team when he was traded with 5 sacks. Hunter has posted back to back 14 sack seasons in 2018 & 2019 so to say that he is worth a contract North of 100M is no Joke. The only concern I have with forking out that money is the neck injury Hunter sustained in training camp in 2020 that held him out the entire year and required surgery. Even last year right after the injury there was talk then Hunter wasn't happy with his contract which again coming off a possible career threatening injury like this it might be in Hunter's best interest to bet on himself and play the year and make his number even greater in the 2021 offseason. On the other hand if your the Vikings do you sign him now and take the chance the injury isn't going to affect him moving forward and sign him to another "team friendly" deal.

There are some really good edge guys in this years draft with the names of Rosseau, Phillips, Basham, Smith, Jones just to name a few. Hunter wasn't a high draft pick in the 2015 draft as he was a mid round 3rd round pick that didn't have a productive college career at LSU. Now you can find pass rushers anywhere in the draft from the 1st overall picks in guys like Clowney, Edwards, or Garrett or guys like Hunter, and others in the mid to later rounds either way Zimmer and our coaching Staffa nd even when he was in Cincy found and made guys like Carlose Dunlap and Michael Johnson a good duo for many years so again Zimmer knows what he is looking for in DE's long and lean.

Market Value

Lets look back at a few of the trades for Premier pass rushers the past few years

Clowney traded to the Seahawks- Jacob Martin and Barkevious Mingo and a 2020 3rd round pick to the Texans.

I say premier with a bit of a pause as Clowney hasn't been stellar in a few years but its still a guy that can get after the QB. Martin and Mingo didn't do much for the Texans so the ROI for the Texans wasn't great, Clowney did record 3 sacks and a INT for the hawks in 2019 but for him being the #1 overall pick he was a bit of a disappointment for John Schneider and Pete Carroll.

Frank Clark Trade to The Chiefs- Seatlle Received a 2019 1st round pick, 2020 2nd round pick and swapped 3rd round picks in 2019 draft

Since being traded to the Chiefs in 2019 Clark has been a solid contributor to the SB winning Chiefs in 2019 and then again in 2020. Coming in to help step up a pass rush that had just sent Dee Ford off to the 49ers Clark stepped in and played well along a DL that also included all pro Chris Jones. Since then the combo has been a formidable force and helped the Chiefs come back against the ironic Dee Ford and the 49ers that year in the SB.

Dee Ford Trade to the 49ers- for a 2nd round pick.

Looking at this trade even though Ford was coming off a monster year in 2018 since landing in SF he has missed more games than he has played. KC definitely got the better end of this deal considering that Ford simply hasn't been on the field. It helps that SF had a embarrassment of riches on the DL with picks like Armstead, Buckner, Bosa and Solomon Thomas adding Ford was at the time just a insane move considering what you had there already.

Deforest Buckner traded to the Indianapolis Colts for the 13th Overall pick in 2020 NFL Draft

As I stated above after acquiring Dee Ford in a trade with the Colts and signing Kwon Alexander to a big Contract then lucking out and grabbing Nick Bosa 2nd overall in the draft it was painfully obvious SF was going to try and get something for their prize DT before he walked for nothing at all. Trading with the Colts they added the 13th overall pick and drafted his heir apparent n Javon Kinlaw. Buckner went on to receive a new contract with the Colts and now anchors a formidable defense and SF grabs a young version of Buckner. Both teams benefited from this trade as I still think Kinlaw is going to blow it up this season after a slow rookie season.

Kahlil Mack traded to the Chicago Bears- The Raiders received a 2019 & 2020 1st round pick a 6th round pick in 2019 and a 3rd round pick in 2020

This seems to be the benchmark that a lot of folks want to use in gauging the value of Hunter moving forward. Mack was holding out for more money that the Raiders simply weren't going to give him. That and with a new coaching staff coming in Gruden to this day still says he cries about making this trade even with the haul of picks and Players the Raiders received in return including Starters Clelin Ferrell, Josh Jacobs and Johnathan Abraham along with guys like Henry Ruggs and Damon Arnette. Mack has been a monster as we know since coming into the NFC North including many game wrecking tackles against our own captain Kirk. Despite Chicago making the trade for Mack and boosting one of the leagues best defenses in the past few years they have not gotten over the hump as their Offense has struggled mightily with QB Mitch Turbisky and coach Matt Nagy. Turbisky is now in Buffalo and without a good upcoming season Nagy could be on his way out as well

Top Defensive contracts in the NFL

Joey Bosa- 27 Million a year

Myles Garrett- 25 Million a year

Kahlil Mack- 23.5 Million

Aaron Donald- 22.5 Million

DeMarcus Lawerance- 21 Million

Deforest Buckner- 21 Million

Frank Clark- 20.8 Million

Chris Jones- 20 Million

Von Miller- 19 Million

Trey Flowers- 18 Million

A surpring name on this list is Trey Flowers considering he went from NE to the Lions in the Patricia exodus. He's a good player but not someone I'd expect to comman that kind of Money. So Looking at these figures Its probably going to cost us somewhere north of 25 Million a year to lock up Hunter for the prime years of his career. If he wasn't coming off a injury and at just 26 he would command a generous compensation for a team to land his services. But lets say the Vikings were to trade him what could they expect in return?

Looking at the above trades and analyzing each one the echo what Mark commented on one of my previous FP the Frank Clark trade package makes the most sense. The injury complicates things so I would throw out the flipping of 3rd round picks and go straight with a 1st round pick this year with a 2nd round pick in 2022. Hunter when Healthy is one of the best DE's in the NFL but the injury may make teams be Leary about offering a kings ransom for him.

In Conclusion

So looking at the above arguments and adding in that Zimmer & Spielman need to win to extend their own separate employments past the 2021 season I thinks its safe to say the Vikings will resign Hunter because simply they cn't afford not to. There is no guarantee you will find a suitable replacement for him in the draft even though our coaching and scouting dept do find good late DL prospects. Also looking back at Spielman's history he does take chances on home grown players moving forward. Jared Allen was clearly regressing his final years in Minnesota even after his 20+ season sack he was clearly starting to show a declining skill set but RS held on to him when he could've traded him for a decent return. The same can be said with Kevin Williams, he was one of the iron men of the team for many years but was clearing regressing in his final years with the team. So we'll probably be seeing something in the coming weeks on a contract extension for Hunter and bank on that he is healthy and merit the mega contract he is going to receive

Leave your comments and thoughts below, always love hearing from everyone and enjoy the madness

This FanPost was created by a registered user of The Daily Norseman, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the site. However, since this is a community, that view is no less important.