Inside The Vikings

NFL Trade Deadline: Danielle Hunter Stays With Vikings

Hunter was the subject of plenty of trade speculation, but he's not going anywhere yet.
Will Ragatz|
NFL Trade Deadline: Danielle Hunter Stays With Vikings
NFL Trade Deadline: Danielle Hunter Stays With Vikings

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Minnesota Vikings

After several weeks of trade speculation, Danielle Hunter did not get moved by the Vikings before Tuesday's deadline. He'll remain in Minnesota for the rest of this season.

GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was busy on deadline day, acquiring QB Josh Dobbs from the Cardinals and trading LG Ezra Cleveland to the Jaguars. But on a day where the Commanders moved both Montez Sweat (Bears) and Chase Young (49ers), a deal never materialized involving the Vikings' star edge rusher.

Reports earlier in the day indicated it was unlikely Hunter would be traded. The Vikings were looking for a high draft pick and probably weren't too motivated to move one of their best players, even after Kirk Cousins' season-ending injury changed their outlook moving forward. This is still a 4-4 team that believes it can get to the postseason with a talented roster and either Jaren Hall, Nick Mullens, or Dobbs at quarterback.

Hunter, who leads the NFL with ten sacks through eight weeks, is a huge part of that roster. He has thrived in Brian Flores' ultra-aggressive scheme, even with fellow OLB Marcus Davenport only playing a couple games so far due to injury.

Signed to a reworked one-year deal before this season, Hunter is set to hit free agency in the spring. If he leaves Minnesota and signs a big contract elsewhere, the Vikings would potentially get a third-round compensatory pick in 2025. That might not be as much as they could've gotten in a deal before the deadline, but this way they get to keep Hunter for the remainder of the season.

There's also the possibility that the Vikings could look to extend Hunter soon or bring him back next offseason. He just turned 29 and says he feels completely back to being himself after dealing with significant injuries in 2020 and '21. Keeping Hunter this year seemingly increases the possibility that he could remain with the Vikings in 2024 and beyond.

Hunter has 81 career sacks, putting him five away from passing Jared Allen for sixth on the Vikings' all-time leaderboard. Five more sacks this season would also set a new career-high for No. 99, topping his 14.5 mark from both 2018 and '19.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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