Vikings Free Agency Updates: Jonathan Greenard, Danielle Hunter, Christian Wilkins
The Vikings made a big splash early on the first day of free agency, signing former Texans edge rusher Jonathan Greenard to a four-year, $76 million deal with $42 million guaranteed. It's a move that most likely means Danielle Hunter will be signing elsewhere this month after spending the first nine years of his career in Minnesota.
Greenard isn't quite on Hunter's level as a player, but he's three years younger and might have his best football ahead of him if he's able to stay healthy. He had 12.5 sacks and 48 pressures last year in a breakout season, finishing sixth in ESPN's pass rush win rate while also performing well as a run defender. Greenard is explosive off of the line of scrimmage and can win with a variety of pass rush moves and counters. He feels like a nice fit and a very important piece for Brian Flores' defense, which desperately needed to add a pass rusher (or several).
It's not impossible that the Vikings could still look to bring back Hunter, but he's expected to have a robust market — potentially commanding $25 million per year on a new deal — and Minnesota may not want to pay that price after giving Greenard more than $40 million in guarantees. We'll see. Even after signing Greenard, they still have the cap room to make several more notable additions in free agency.
They won't be landing Christian Wilkins, who they reportedly had interest in signing and reuniting with Flores. The top defensive tackle on the market signed a four-year, $110 million deal with the Raiders on Monday, which includes a whopping $84.75 million guaranteed. That $27.5 million AAV is probably more than the Vikings were ever willing to spend on Wilkins, even if he would've been a fantastic fit in their defense.
Free agency is heating up. Will we get Kirk Cousins news today?
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