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Hunter is becoming the Hunted (Upd 3/2024: Signed with his hometown Texans)


swede700

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If you’re placing an opening bet on the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year, the odds for Jadaveon Clowney and Danielle Hunter are the same, at least at Bovada Sportsbook.

With odds of 22-1, Hunter, the Vikings third-year defensive end, trails only J.J. Watt, Khalil Mack (5-1), Von Miller (5-1), Joey Bosa (9-1), Aaron Donald (14-1) and Luke Kuechly (14-1). Watt is the favorite at 7-2.

 

 
Edited by swede700
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5 minutes ago, TENINCH said:

He's so much better than Clowney. Kinda irritated to see them give him the same odds.

I'd only be irritated because Clowney has done virtually nothing to even warrant the attention other than being drafted #1 overall.   Hunter had more sacks last year than Clowney has had in his entire career.  I actually find it quite laughable that they listed him anywhere on the list, but I guess they feel that he'll benefit as much from playing on the opposite side of JJ Watt as Hunter will playing opposite Everson.  

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Hunter is the player I'm most excited about on this defense. I wouldn't be shocked if he's recognized as the best player on the defense this time next year. 

I love the future of this defense, lots of young and supremely talented players at every level. 

Edited by vikingsrule
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On 8/8/2017 at 7:40 PM, vikingsrule said:

Hunter is the player I'm most excited about on this defense. I wouldn't be shocked if he's recognized as the best player on the defense this time next year. 

I love the future of this defense, lots of young and supremely talented players at every level. 

Same here! Our D is packed with talent and I can see them breaking out as one of the league's best squads pretty soon. Linval Joseph and Terence Newman are my personal favorites, but I like them all.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 3 months later...

Now that the Minnesota Vikings have extended the contract of the first of their core potential free agents, linebacker Eric Kendricks last week for $50 million for five years, negotiations for defensive end Danielle Hunter could become very interesting. So much that it could take designating a franchise tag on Hunter if a mega-contract agreement can’t be reached.

The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Hunter, who has had 25.5 sacks in his first three seasons in Minnesota, doesn’t turn 24 until October. Talent that young is hard to find in the NFL, making Hunter’s value as a potential free agent after the coming season in the $15 million per year range. That’s more than Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen’s $14.5 million per season average.

Franchising Hunter for the 2019 season could cost the Vikings about $18 million. 

https://www.twincities.com/2018/04/21/charley-walters-will-vikings-danielle-hunter-get-franchise-tag/

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I think getting him locked up long term is more important than signing Barr, Diggs, Richardson, or Waynes. If this ends up being their last season in purple or if we have to cut Griffen in the next couple years then you do it. Griffen is 30 years old already. He doesn't have much time left in a Vikings uniform.

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24 minutes ago, TENINCH said:

Griffen is 30 years old already. He doesn't have much time left in a Vikings uniform.

Griffen's still playing really well. He's worth keeping at his current price for as long as he can keep that up. There are a number of edge rushers who've continued to play at a high level into their mid 30s, Griffen might be one of them. 

His contract extension gave the Vikings a ton of flexibility. There's basically no dead cap hit from releasing him anytime starting in 2019. His cap numbers go up gradually: $11.6M this year, then $11.9M, $13.9M, $14.4M, and $15.5M in 2022 when he'll be 35. 

The Vikings can basically wait until Griffen starts to decline, then release him with nearly zero penalty, or else renegotiate his deal for cheaper, in keeping with his performance at the time. 

Best realistic scenario is that he's still a double digit sack guy for 2-3 more years, after which he steps down to the DE3 / nickel pass rusher role for his last couple of years in the league, with his contract renegotiated at that point. Still, there's no way the Vikings can confidently expect Griffen to be their DE1 in 2020, the year he turns 33, and he might only be fit for DE3 duties by that point.

2020 is the last year of Cousins' deal. If the Vikings want to contend that year, they either have to retain Hunter at whatever cost, or find at least one or maybe two contender-quality edge rushers before then. Considering how hard it is to find high level edge rushers, retaining Hunter is obviously the smart thing to do. 

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