Vikings, Hunter come to terms

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@Wetlander said:

@MaroonBells said:

@Wetlander said:
Great, another Kwesi non-move.  So we get Hunter for this year (good for this season) but basically assures Hunter and his agent will want to test FA.  Then we either have to overpay to keep him (unlikely) or he leaves and we get at best a 3rd round comp pick.

But there are a dozen contingencies at play here. I think we draft a QB no matter what in 2024. But let's say for the hell of it, that Cousins has a bad year or gets hurt, the Vikings have no QB money in 2024 and a ridiculous amount of cap space. Vikings can decide then, based on his 2023, whether or not they want Hunter long-term before he even sees the market. 

The 1-year deal was the obvious (probably the only) solution. It keeps the Vikings competitive rebuild, well, competitive. And the Vikings continue to avoid 2024 money like the plague. 

This does keep us competitive this year like I said above, but it essentially guarantees Hunter walks after this season with the no tag option.  His agent has a history of demanding new money for Hunter and I don't see that changing if he has a good year.  All it does is increase the cost to keep him after this season and likely prices us out of re-signing him once other teams have the opportunity to offer him contracts. With the way these negotiations have gone, I think we'll need to offer a sweet deal for him to even consider coming back.

In this case, I think it makes more sense to either commit to him as one of your core players moving forward and sign him long-term or trade him for picks that can help the team remain competitive in the future.  This is a bandaid for this season when the defense is in flux with new players and a new scheme.

I don't think any of the bold is necessarily true. If he has a bad year, we'll consider ourselves lucky we didn't commit long term. If he has a good year, he'll get a big bag of money....from someone. But I don't think that necessarily means it won't be us. We'll have some cap space.

Yes, I think it's more likely he moves on to a team with deeper pockets, but Comet's right: the market for nearly-30 edge rushers is limited. Plus, his camp might consider a Flores-led defense key to his performance.

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@Vikergirl said:

@MaroonBells said:

@FLVike said:
Hunter and Cousins are on final year contracts which, in my opinion, will get the best out of them.

That's the point I think everyone is missing. Vikings still don't have any money to speak of hitting the 2024 cap. So while the Vikings can now remain competitive in 2023 by keeping their best defensive player, they will have a nearly clean slate in 2024. 

If you still don't see the plan, you're not looking.  

They have to finish cleaning up from the previous regime in order to move forward 

Yes, the Vikings were in win-now mode the last few seasons. And the cap sitch reflects that. But it hasn't taken long to clean it up. 

Barr, Thielen, Dalvin, Kendricks, P2, Z, Tomlinson...all off the books. Can we remain competitive with the players who've replaced them, or will replace them in the cases of Cousins and Hunter? That's the key question. 

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@Wetlander said:
Great, another Kwesi non-move.  So we get Hunter for this year (good for this season) but basically assures Hunter and his agent will want to test FA.  Then we either have to overpay to keep him (unlikely) or he leaves and we get at best a 3rd round comp pick.

If they're in rebuild mode why keep a guy this way that isn't in their long term plan?


Trading  him for whatever they could get on draft day so they could develop other players made more sense to me.



Maybe Cook and Hunter were available and no one called?


 the only benefit Vikings get is to allow  UFA to set Hunters next contract and the Vikings get  to match it?


Otherwise none of this benefits the Vikings long term.

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Transition and planning ahead from a fiscal cap perspective is part of a 'competitive rebuild'. The roster is still in flux from a new regime's perspective, still also dealing with hard money on a cap structure they had no part of. I personally don't want Hunter at $20 M+ a year on a big multi-year contract, he's no Nick Bosa. I'm fine with this, I don't think the Vikings were potentially going to get the moon in comp for Hunter.

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@StickyBun said:
Transition and planning ahead from a fiscal cap perspective is part of a 'competitive rebuild'. The roster is still in flux from a new regime's perspective, still also dealing with hard money on a cap structure they had no part of. I personally don't want Hunter at $20 M+ a year on a big multi-year contract, he's no Nick Bosa. I'm fine with this, I don't think the Vikings were potentially going to get the moon in comp for Hunter.

Yes.  The age, injury history, and contract situation all made a trade really unlikely.  They're better off getting the year of play from him and then either trying to keep him if it makes sense, or getting a comp pick if he leaves, which would most likely be a 2025 3rd rounder.

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Danielle Hunter, Vikings excited to put contract squabble behind themThe standout edge rusher, 28, is going through a two-week ramp-up period designed to have Hunter ready to cut loose for joint practices with the Titans and Cardinals in August.Danielle Hunter was asked Monday if he wants to finish his career in Minnesota. This came roughly 24 hours and one practice after the star edge rusher ended his contract impasse with the team by agreeing to only a one-year deal that prevents the Vikings from placing the franchise tag on him next spring.
"I want to be a Viking forever," Hunter said without hesitation at the end of a four-minute interview following his first practice since the end of the 2022 season.
Whether Hunter is a Viking for life very much remains to be seen. But, for now and through this season, the Vikings are, well, "excited," a word coach Kevin O'Connell and new defensive coordinator Brian Flores used four times apiece in a span of less than four minutes after Monday's walkthrough.
"We are a better football team with Danielle Hunter," O'Connell said, "and I'm really excited about that."
When Flores had exhausted his use of the word "excited," he smiled and added, "No one's upset about it."
Hunter, of course, was upset about the deal he signed in 2018 and had tweaked twice before it finally was abandoned in favor of a one-year, $20 million deal with $17 million guaranteed. Asked how he feels about the team now, Hunter said, "I love this organization.
"I've always been an advocate for these guys. I'm just happy to be back. Happy to get back on the field with my teammates. I just want to play football."
He also did a nifty sidestep when asked if he had ever wanted to be traded as he was skipping all the offseason training and the mandatory minicamp in June. The Vikings fielded trade offers but ultimately decided the 28-year-old's pass-rushing skills meant far too much to a 2023 squad that's young and inexperienced at cornerback.
"I wasn't really focused on [a trade]," he said. "I just wanted to come back here, be with my teammates and play ball. I'm happy we got over that hump."
Hunter came to camp in typical prime condition.
"This is my first offseason in like three years that I wasn't rehabbing [an injury]," he said. "So I was able to focus and train on what I needed to focus on and get my body right. I think it was a plus that I was out in Arizona and did two-a-days for about four weeks. It was like 115 [degrees] out there, so it was a good offseason."
O'Connell, however, is still taking it slow with Hunter, easing him back with a two-week ramp-up period focused on having Hunter ready to cut loose for joint practices with the Titans and Cardinals in August.
Hunter did only individual work early in Monday's practice.
"They don't want me to rush back and have something bad happen," Hunter said. "So I'm just going to follow their lead."
Marcus Davenport, the team's other starting outside linebacker, said Hunter's return will help him realize his potential after signing a one-year, $13 million deal to come here from New Orleans.
"Working off each other is going to boost us both," he said. "Especially me. I'll take it."
https://www.startribune.com/danielle-hunter-minnesota-vikings-kevin-oconnell-brian-flores-new-contract-training-camp/600293828/