Report: Vikings Star Danielle Hunter Remains Unhappy With His Contract Situation
Regardless of what Rick Spielman has said in recent weeks, the Danielle Hunter situation isn't going away anytime soon. The Vikings' superstar pass rusher, who is arguably their best player, "remains unhappy with his current situation with the Vikings and is exploring all options, including a trade request," The Athletic's Chad Graff reported on Monday afternoon.
This has been building since last fall, when Hunter needed season-ending neck surgery and top NFL insider Ian Rapaport threw in a little extra on his tweet announcing the news.
That's not something that Rapaport would just tweet for no reason. It was almost certainly influenced by Hunter and his representation. According to Graff, Hunter "had been displeased with his current situation" since before the herniated disc injury that kept him off the field for all of last season.
Hunter has a reason to be unhappy with his contract. He signed a five-year, $72 million deal in 2018, prior to really blowing up as an elite edge rusher with back-to-back 14.5-sack seasons in 2018 and 2019. Three years later, that contract is one of the biggest bargains in the NFL, as Graff explains.
But what has become apparent, through interviews with multiple sources, is that Hunter has grown more discontent. The two-time Pro Bowler is unhappy that the five-year, $72 million contract he signed in 2018 leaves him underpaid compared to the few other defensive ends who can match his production on the field. It has been frustrating to him to watch as other edge rushers made more money with less success. Joey Bosa averages $27 million per year on his contract even though he has never posted 14.5 sacks, which Hunter did in back-to-back years before the injury. Myles Garrett averages $25 million and he, too, has never hit 14.5 sacks. Hunter, meanwhile, averages $14.4 million per year.
Now, Hunter is exploring all of his options. If he’s not given a new contract, he could potentially hold out, he could publicly demand a trade or he could even seek new representation with the hope that a new agent could help him navigate a path out of Minnesota. He hasn’t ruled out any of those three scenarios.
Update: Looks like Hunter won't be changing his agency. He's signed to ELITE Athlete Management. That's all this tweet means.
Much like a team can cut a player who is underperforming relative to their contract, Hunter has a right to be upset that he has vastly outperformed his contract prior to last season's injury.
What makes this such an interesting situation are all of the factors involved and the discussion of leverage on both sides. Hunter has three years left on his current contract. Giving him a new deal with that much time left would be unusual and might set a precedent that the Vikings don't want. There's also the fact that he's coming off of a very serious injury, with no guarantee that he'll be the same dominant player in 2021 and beyond. You can see why the Vikings would be hesitant to give in to Hunter's demands.
But they might have no choice. Hunter is probably worth $10 million more per season than what he's currently making, and that doesn't sit right with him. He wants to get paid now so he's not risking a poor season post-injury that would reduce his earning potential in the future. And the Vikings need Hunter. If he's not around in 2021, their pass rush might once again be one of the league's worst.
What's clear, based on Graff's report, is that this situation needs to be taken seriously. Hunter having three years left on his contract and coming off a major surgery doesn't mean he can't demand a raise or a trade.
Spielman has tried to downplay the situation recently, saying "no" when asked if it had been communicated to him that Hunter wanted a trade if he wasn't the highest-paid defensive player in the league. Spielman also recently expressed confidence in having both Hunter and nose tackle Michael Pierce back in 2021, saying he looked at them "as two big free-agent signings for us this year."
Well, Hunter was surprised to hear about Spielman's "no" statement, according to Graff. Graff also added that Hunter simply getting to Minnesota to talk to Mike Zimmer and Andre Patterson and smooth things out "may not solve the problem." The fact that Hunter, a non-prolific Twitter user, liked multiple tweets about being traded to the Titans or Raiders earlier this month was another indication that this is a serious situation.
If they want to keep him, the Vikings may have to disregard the possibility of setting a bad precedent and give Hunter an extension and raise this offseason. They could actually reduce his 2021 cap hit by doing so, loading guaranteed money into future years and bumping up his AAV significantly. And would it really be setting a bad precedent? There are very few players with the leverage of someone like Hunter, who became the youngest player in NFL history to reach 50 career sacks.
If that doesn't happen, they might have to seriously listen to trade offers. Hunter could presumably land the Vikings multiple first-round picks, but trading him this offseason would be messy with the cap ($12 million in dead money) and would mean the Vikings would be back to square one in their pass rush.
The Vikings have inquired about top free agent pass rushers Carl Lawson and Trey Hendrickson on Monday, but it's unclear whether they're doing so as a contingency plan for losing Hunter or in an attempt to surround him with more talent.
At this point, they might not even know the answer to that. This is a developing situation that needs to be monitored closely going forward.
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