As the NFL's Oct. 31 trade deadline nears, the Minnesota Vikings have a player several teams are reportedly interested in. Rumors have swirled around Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins, but now another Vikings Pro Bowler is garnering attention.
Per NFL Media, teams have called the Vikings about pass rusher Danielle Hunter. The interest in him has reportedly been "pretty serious." In 2022, Hunter recorded 65 combined tackles, 22 QB hits and 10.5 sacks as he returned to Pro Bowl form after missing 10 games in 2021 due to a torn pectoral. He couldn't be doing much more to boost his trade value in 2023. Hunter co-leads the NFL in sacks with eight alongside Steelers All-Pro T.J. Watt, and he has an opportunity to take the league lead Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers.
Hunter's future is in question, to say the least. The 28-year-old is in the final year of a five-year, $72 million extension he signed with Minnesota before the 2018 season, and he will make $11.5 million in 2023 per OverTheCap. The Vikings have been unable to agree to a long-term extension with Hunter at this point, and even reportedly pitched a "Band-Aid" deal that would give Hunter more money in 2023.
Hunter has been the subject of trade rumors over the past few years, and even reworked his contract in 2021 after skipping voluntary workouts. He has also dealt with injury issues, as Hunter missed all of the 2020 season due to a neck injury, and missed the majority of the 2021 campaign due to the aforementioned pectoral injury. In 102 career NFL games, Hunter has recorded 379 combined tackles, 71 sacks and made three Pro Bowls.
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A Hunter trade may have been more feasible before the 2023 NFL Draft, but with the team off to a 2-4 start and Cousins also in the final year of his contract, acquiring additional draft picks for a looming rebuild is paramount. A move could happen if a team approaches Minnesota with an attractive offer.
Something to keep in mind is that if the Vikings do deal Hunter, an extension for the pass rusher would likely happen as well. Let's examine four potential landing spots for Hunter.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars are rolling right now as winners of four in a row and as a result, they are off to a 5-2 start. However, if they want to make a deep postseason run in 2023 they have to improve their ability to get after opposing quarterbacks. Their 31.2% quarterback pressure rate is the sixth-lowest in the NFL. Their 13 sacks as a team this season are tied for the fifth-fewest in the league, and their sack rate, the frequency that they get sacks when opposing quarterbacks drop back to pass, of 4.3% is the third-lowest in the NFL ahead of only the Houston Texans (4%) and the Chicago Bears (3.8%).
Outside linebacker Josh Allen, the Jaguars 26-year-old former top 10 pick, is off to the best of his career with seven sacks, tied for the fourth-most in the NFL, which matches his 2022 season total already, while his 33 quarterback pressures are tied for the sixth-most in the league. The problem is it's too easy for opponents to just double-team Allen because no one else on Jacksonville has three or more sacks. Hunter and Allen on the same defensive line would create chaos, exactly what the reigning AFC South champions need to level up to becoming a real threat to come out of the loaded AFC.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers' Super Bowl championship drought doesn't get the same amount of attention as the Cowboys, but it's actually one season longer. The 49ers need to take advantage of having quarterback Brock Purdy, the final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, on his rookie deal and go all-in to take home the Vince Lombardi trophy this season. They have a league-leading $39.9 million in cap space for 2023, according to OverTheCap, so they could definitely make an acquisition for Hunter work.
However, they are just under $1.5 million under the salary cap in 2024 at the moment, heightening the urgency to win it all NOW. The 49ers have one of the best collections of defensive line talent in the NFL with 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa, Pro Bowl defensive tackle Javon Hargrave and steady defensive lineman Arik Armstead. Their team quarterback pressure rate reflects this talent as their 41.2% pressure rate is the fourth-best in the NFL. However, they could be better at converting these pressures into quarterback takedowns. They have 15 sacks as a team entering their game on Monday Night against the Minnesota Vikings, giving them a sack rate of six percent, which ranks in the bottom third of the league through their first six games. Adding Hunter, the NFL's co-leader in sacks entering his game against them on Monday, would have their defensive line talent on par with the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. This is a move they need to make.
Given the two teams play on Monday night, perhaps some in-person negotiations could go down.
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens pass rush is performing at a strong level right now as their 29 team sacks lead the NFL. Five players -- defensive lineman Justin Madubuike, linebacker Patrick Queen, linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, linebacker Kyle Van Now and safety Kyle Hamilton -- all have at least three sacks. It's a pass rush by committee. Out to a 5-2 start and coming off a 38-6 thrashing of the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions that caused Fox to take the game off the air to flip to the more competitive Buccaneers-Falcons game shows Baltimore is a true contender. Come postseason, the Ravens could use a tier one pass rusher. Hunter would provide the immediate-impact player they need to allow the rest of their committee of rushers to continue to have the space required to keep affecting quarterbacks well into January.
Houston Texans
Former 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans is now calling the shots in Houston, and you can bet he believes a rebuild can be expedited by a formidable defense. The Texans drafted Will Anderson Jr. No. 3 overall, but inserting Hunter opposite of him could make for a pretty intriguing tandem and accelerate his development by learning from one of the NFL's best.
