Report: Danielle Hunter Talks Could 'Ramp Up' Next Week
With the start of training camp now roughly two weeks away, everything remains quiet on the Danielle Hunter front.
The Vikings' star edge rusher is set to make just $5.5 million this year — the final year of his contract — after having money moved up last offseason. Unsurprisingly, he has no interest in playing at that number. Hunter skipped the Vikings' entire offseason program, including mandatory minicamp. He's looking for a big-money extension from Minnesota — or a trade to a team willing to pay him what he's looking for.
The end of July isn't a hard deadline, but things could start to get messy if Hunter holds out into camp. Under the NFL's current CBA, players are subject to hefty fines for missing camp practices. Even though the Vikings aren't exactly required to extend or trade Hunter, it's probably in their best interest to do so. No team wants an ugly situation on their hands with a player who doesn't want to be there. If the two sides can't agree on the terms of a new contract, the Vikings could presumably get a solid return in a trade. They've received calls.
The smoothest outcome for both parties would be a resolution, one way or another, in the two weeks before players report to TCO Performance Center. KSTP's Darren Wolfson believes talks will pick up next week.
"I think things are going to ramp up next week," Wolfson said on SKOR North's Mackey & Judd. "Lot of the Vikings' people are trickling back into town. I think next week is going to be a relatively active week. Don't know if talk will turn into action, but I do think there's going to be a good amount of heavy dialogue next week."
We'll see if talk turns into a decision from Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who also has extensions for Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson to discuss.
Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all offseason long.
