Vikings, Danielle Hunter agree to new 1-year, $20 million deal

The Minnesota Vikings and Danielle Hunter have agreed to a reworked deal worth up to $20 million, per multiple sources. The Vikings star pass-rusher gets $17 million guaranteed at signing and a no-tag clause. The re-worked deal allows Hunter to hit free agency after the season, with a chance to earn another big payday before he turns 30 in October 2024.

Danielle played all 17 games last season and recorded 10.5 sacks, which was the second-lowest sack total among seasons where he played every game. Hunter did not attend OTAs or mandatory minicamp, and opted to hold-in for the beginning of training camp until a new deal was reached. Despite this, Kevin O’Connell was effusive in his praise for Hunter, and expressed his desire to have him back on the field this season.

Having Danielle Hunter back on the field is huge the Vikings defense. There’s not a lot of depth at edge rusher, with Marcus Davenport and DJ Wonnum being the next guys up on the depth chart. Without Hunter, opposing offenses would be able to key in on Davenport, and there wouldn’t be a proven starting quality edge rusher there to pick up the slack. Not only that, but the Vikings need to generate consistent pressure to help a young secondary that struggled last season. Brian Flores is going to play a lot more man coverage, which puts the Vikings DBs at risk of giving up chunk plays if the Vikings defensive line isn’t able to put pressure on the quarterback.

With the Danielle Hunter situation now taken care of, the Vikings can now turn their attention to extending Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson.