Vikings DE Danielle Hunter Liked Multiple Tweets About Being Traded
Vikings DE Danielle Hunter Liked Multiple Tweets About Being TradedDo the Vikings have a situation on their hands? Hunter might not be happy with his current situation.Do the Vikings have another Stefon Diggs situation on their hands with a superstar player? It's too early to go that far, but the buzz around Danielle Hunter's unhappiness with his situation can't be ignored.
On Friday, a couple days after Vikings GM Rick Spielman denied being told that Hunter wanted to be the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL or be traded, Hunter liked three different tweets about being traded. The question to Spielman stemmed from an Ian Rapaport tweet last October where the NFL insider insinuated that those were Hunter's demands.It may not seem like much, but this should be taken seriously. Last offseason, Diggs used Twitter to force himself out of Minnesota. Hunter presumably isn't going to start firing off cryptic tweets, but he knew what he was doing by liking these tweets.
Hunter absolutely has a reason to want a raise. The five-year, $72 million deal he signed back in 2018 before truly blowing up is a massive bargain for the Vikings. His $14.4 million average annual value ranks outside the top 20 among NFL pass rushers. Yet, across 2018 and 2019, Hunter finished second in pressures (154, trailing only Aaron Donald) and third in sacks (29). He wants to be paid in the $25 million per year range like Joey Bosa, Myles Garrett, and Khalil Mack, and you can understand why.
The discussion of leverage here is an interesting one. Hunter is coming off of missing all of last season with a herniated disc in his neck that required surgery. With three years left on his contract and no guarantee that he'll return to his usual dominance after the injury, you'd think the Vikings would have the leverage. But Hunter's camp saw how horrendous Minnesota's pass rush was without their best player. They know the Vikings need Hunter, and they may want him to get paid before he steps on the field again. If his level of play goes down in 2021, that would diminish his leverage if they waited until next offseason to seek an extension or trade.
An extension could work out for both sides. The Vikings could add a few more years and a lot of guaranteed money to his current deal, while lowering his $17.75 million 2021 cap hit. They'd have to be confident in his medical situation to do that, but Hunter is the type of player you take risks on.
If the two sides can't agree on an extension — or if Hunter simply wants a new situation — trade talks could start to really heat up. The Vikings could likely get multiple first-round picks for Hunter like the Raiders did for Khalil Mack. A 26 year-old superstar pass rusher would generate an immense amount of interest on the trade market, even coming off of a major injury.
If the Vikings are going to end up in a situation where they're forced to trade Hunter, they'd want to do so before the NFL draft so they can use a first-round pick on his replacement. There's still a ways to go before that point, but this is a situation to keep an eye on as free agency begins later this month.
https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/vikings-de-danielle-hunter-liked-tweets-trade-rumors-extension
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
If a guy making 14+ million a year who just missed an entire season and has 3 years left on his contract is going to play hard ball, then I would definitely try to see what kind of offer we can get for him. We have no guarantee how he will come back from the injury, so no way am I increasing the value of his contract. Also, while he is a great player, he is not the kind of player who takes over a game, in fact, there have been many big games in which he has disappeared.
@"JR44" said: If a guy making 14+ million a year who just missed an entire season and has 3 years left on his contract is going to play hard ball, then I would definitely try to see what kind of offer we can get for him. We have no guarantee how he will come back from the injury, so no way am I increasing the value of his contract. Also, while he is a great player, he is not the kind of player who takes over a game, in fact, there have been many big games in which he has disappeared.WAY underpaid. He deserves and will get a big pay raise. The problem here is the injury. Vikings would probably like to see a few games before re-working the contract...
The injury is a huge concern and unknown. The money will either work itself out or it won't. I just don't feel a lot of confidence on this one. We'll see what happens.
@"MaroonBells" said:I would have to think they have way more intelligence on where the injury is at vs what's public...Is there going to be OTA's etc this year?@"JR44" said: If a guy making 14+ million a year who just missed an entire season and has 3 years left on his contract is going to play hard ball, then I would definitely try to see what kind of offer we can get for him. We have no guarantee how he will come back from the injury, so no way am I increasing the value of his contract. Also, while he is a great player, he is not the kind of player who takes over a game, in fact, there have been many big games in which he has disappeared. WAY underpaid. He deserves and will get a big pay raise. The problem here is the injury. Vikings would probably like to see a few games before re-working the contract...That could go a long way to feeling more convicted on him one way or another.
If this team trades Hunter, might as well unload Cousins, let the rebuild begin...! :s
Trading Hunter and starting over is as appetizing as a Lutefisk hot pocket prepared in the gas station microwave. I'll take a hard pass on that.
An injury question involving the neck
A salary Cap that goes down for the next 2 years.
He has 3? years left on his current deal?
And Hunter wants to parlay this situation into a 25 mil a year highest paid player kinda deal.......how?
With a smaller salary cap and less UFA $$ I don't see where the players have leverage.
UFA next week will say whats what.
I guess his leverage is simply how bad we sucked w/o him... :o
@"purplefaithful" said:@"MaroonBells" said:I would have to think they have way more intelligence on where the injury is at vs what's public...Is there going to be OTA's etc this year?@"JR44" said: If a guy making 14+ million a year who just missed an entire season and has 3 years left on his contract is going to play hard ball, then I would definitely try to see what kind of offer we can get for him. We have no guarantee how he will come back from the injury, so no way am I increasing the value of his contract. Also, while he is a great player, he is not the kind of player who takes over a game, in fact, there have been many big games in which he has disappeared. WAY underpaid. He deserves and will get a big pay raise. The problem here is the injury. Vikings would probably like to see a few games before re-working the contract...That could go a long way to feeling more convicted on him one way or another.
I'm sure the team knows the numbers. I think there's little chance of it recurring. From everything I've read, the decision to have the disc surgery with a full year of recovery is what prevents that.So many players choose to just play through it, or come back too early, and that's when it recurs. JJ Watt, for example, had the surgery in late July, then was in the starting lineup in September and so he hurt it again. According the specialists the recovery time averages 9 months. He took two. Hunter will have 12.
But however small the chance, the Vikings probably can't give him that contract until they're able to see him...at least in practice. Not sure what they're able to glean from drills and weightlifting. And even then I think the contract has to have some sort of injury language.
@"Mattyman" said: An injury question involving the neckA salary Cap that goes down for the next 2 years.
He has 3? years left on his current deal?
And Hunter wants to parlay this situation into a 25 mil a year highest paid player kinda deal.......how?
With a smaller salary cap and less UFA $$ I don't see where the players have leverage.
UFA next week will say whats what.
Yeah, I have a feeling many players are acting like the cap has kept growing and they can get the big free agency paydays they have been seeing in the past. Ideas might change when FA starts.
But the hardship might just hit the middle-tier players who always got their value inflated. For someone like Hunter, one of the top at his position, I think there will still be suitors. There are a dozen teams with enough cap space to give Hunter the deal he wants. The Jets always like Vikings players. Maybe Stefanski believes he's the last piece. Hey, here's possible irony: maybe the Ravens will try to get Hunter and re-sign Ngakoue to pair the two of them...
I know they know a lot more about the injury than we do. But hearing that it was just a tweak and that he would be returning shortly to he is having surgery and out for the season definitely was not reassuring.
@"Vikergirl" said: I know they know a lot more about the injury than we do. But hearing that it was just a tweak and that he would be returning shortly to he is having surgery and out for the season definitely was not reassuring.So true...
Talk about fan whip-lash, that was it.
@"Vikergirl" said: I know they know a lot more about the injury than we do. But hearing that it was just a tweak and that he would be returning shortly to he is having surgery and out for the season definitely was not reassuring.Yabbut that's the nature of this kind of injury. Because it's not really an injury. It's not like you break something or pull something. It really IS a tweak. It feels like something you can probably play through. And many actually do...with mixed results. It sounds like team doctors were telling him it would be unwise to do that. That's why he got the 2nd opinion...which clearly agreed with the first.
I don't care how many tweets he may like, he signed an extension and is under contract for 3 more seasons making a lot of money. He also has zero leverage coming off a year where he missed the entire season with a neck injury and didn't play a single snap. This just seems like a non topic and something to revisit next offseason
I hate this and Diggs cryptic tweet pussy shit. Man up, honor your contract and then go wherever the !$&@ you want !
Almost makes me miss TO and Rodman. those effers were nuts but at least they were honest about it
JJ Watt had surgery for a herniated disc in his back and has had no relapse.
The neck is different I suppose but if Sugarman signs off then that's all they need.
They better pay him now rather than wait for another double digit sack season that is for dang sure.
His cap hits the next 3 years are 17.75M, 17.75M, and 14.75M according to overthecap.
Give him a new 5 year 102.5M deal (adding two years really) with a 25M signing bonus.
He would get a 12M option bonus in 2023 spread over 3 years.
His salaries would be 7.75M, 7.75M, 10.5M, 19M, and 20.5M
His cap hits would be 17.75M, 17.75M, 21.5M, 28M, & 29.5M
He'll take home 32.5M in 2021, 7.75M in 2022, 22.5M in 2023, 19M in 2024, and 20.5M in 2025.
63M over the next 3 years is good.
They can include some incentives based on snaps played to bump it up some.
It puts him 300K average per year behind Frank Clark and 500K average per year behind Demarcus Lawrence.
That is pretty good and does not cost them any cap space the next two years.
It will basically cost them the 25M signing bonus.
They can do it if they want to.
@"MarkSP18" said: JJ Watt had surgery for a herniated disc in his back and has had no relapse.The neck is different I suppose but if Sugarman signs off then that's all they need.
They better pay him now rather than wait for another double digit sack season that is for dang sure.
His cap hits the next 3 years are 17.75M, 17.75M, and 14.75M according to overthecap.
Give him a new 5 year 102.5M deal (adding two years really) with a 25M signing bonus.
He would get a 12M option bonus in 2023 spread over 3 years.
His salaries would be 7.75M, 7.75M, 10.5M, 19M, and 20.5M
His cap hits would be 17.75M, 17.75M, 21.5M, 28M, & 29.5M
He'll take home 32.5M in 2021, 7.75M in 2022, 22.5M in 2023, 19M in 2024, and 20.5M in 2025.63M over the next 3 years is good.
They can include some incentives based on snaps played to bump it up some.It puts him 300K average per year behind Frank Clark and 500K average per year behind Demarcus Lawrence.
That is pretty good and does not cost them any cap space the next two years.
It will basically cost them the 25M signing bonus.They can do it if they want to.
Its a pipe dream if you think he will sign for $20M/yr. It will be $25M per season or slightly above on an extension. Myles Garrett's deal is the benchmark and after what happened on his most recent deal there is no way he is going to settle and have others pass him over again. You can still manage the cap hits on a $25M/yr deal but you're entering the Kirk vs. Danielle debate since you might not be able to carry both of them plus high priced RBs and LBs.
@"Geoff Nichols" said:@"MarkSP18" said: JJ Watt had surgery for a herniated disc in his back and has had no relapse.The neck is different I suppose but if Sugarman signs off then that's all they need.
They better pay him now rather than wait for another double digit sack season that is for dang sure.
His cap hits the next 3 years are 17.75M, 17.75M, and 14.75M according to overthecap.
Give him a new 5 year 102.5M deal (adding two years really) with a 25M signing bonus.
He would get a 12M option bonus in 2023 spread over 3 years.
His salaries would be 7.75M, 7.75M, 10.5M, 19M, and 20.5M
His cap hits would be 17.75M, 17.75M, 21.5M, 28M, & 29.5M
He'll take home 32.5M in 2021, 7.75M in 2022, 22.5M in 2023, 19M in 2024, and 20.5M in 2025.63M over the next 3 years is good.
They can include some incentives based on snaps played to bump it up some.It puts him 300K average per year behind Frank Clark and 500K average per year behind Demarcus Lawrence.
That is pretty good and does not cost them any cap space the next two years.
It will basically cost them the 25M signing bonus.They can do it if they want to.
Its a pipe dream if you think he will sign for $20M/yr. It will be $25M per season or slightly above on an extension. Myles Garrett's deal is the benchmark and after what happened on his most recent deal there is no way he is going to settle and have others pass him over again. You can still manage the cap hits on a $25M/yr deal but you're entering the Kirk vs. Danielle debate since you might not be able to carry both of them plus high priced RBs and LBs.
It sounds like a Danielle vs. Anthony debate, at least if it happens in 2021.
Edit Post (mod action — author will see a notice)
Warn Poster
Suspend User (3 days)
The user will be suspended for 3 days and will receive an email with the reason and information about how to appeal.