The Vikings reached a compromise with Danielle Hunter on Sunday morning, agreeing to a new deal with the pass rusher that will give him a raise and put him on the field for 2023.
Vikings, Danielle Hunter agree to new contract for 2023, ending stalemate
Danielle Hunter, who had been sitting out team activities to show his unhappiness with his deal, can make up to $20 million in 2023 and will become a free agent after this season.
July 31, 2023 at 11:04AM
Hunter had skipped the team's offseason program and mandatory minicamp to show his unhappiness with his existing deal, which was set to pay him a base salary of $4.9 million for 2023. He did not practice during the Vikings' first three days of training camp, while the team considered whether to give the 28-year-old a raise or explore a trade. Though coach Kevin O'Connell and defensive coordinator Brian Flores sounded hopeful during public comments about Hunter this week, there were times during a shifting set of negotiations that it seemed Hunter might play elsewhere.
In the end, the Vikings agreed to a deal that will pay Hunter $17 million this season, with up to $3 million in incentives, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. The contract will still make the three-time Pro Bowl player a free agent after 2023; the deal includes a clause preventing the Vikings from using the franchise tag on Hunter after this year.
The agreement also ensures the Vikings will have their top pass rusher this season; Hunter had 10½ sacks while making the shift from defensive end to outside linebacker last season, and his return means Flores will have a proven edge rusher for the Vikings' new scheme.
"I think Danielle's a phenomenal player," Flores said Wednesday. "He's a guy who's had a lot of great success over the course of his career. An impact player who brings an element of rush and just overall solid play [against the] run [and] pass. He's somebody that offensively, you've got to take into account where he's at so he doesn't cause havoc to the game. I look forward to working with him."
It's the third time the Vikings have renegotiated the five-year, $72 million deal Hunter signed in 2018, when he had posted 25½ sacks before his 24th birthday. He registered back-to-back 14½-sack seasons in 2018 and '19, while the deal made him only the league's 18th-highest paid pass rusher before the 2020 season.
Hunter's camp first voiced its unhappiness with his deal on Oct. 22, 2020, the same day he decided to have season-ending surgery on a herniated disc in his neck. A torn pectoral muscle limited Hunter to six games in 2021, stripping away much of his leverage for a new contract. Instead, the Vikings renegotiated his existing deal in 2021, adding an $18 million roster bonus for the 2022 season.
Sources said the team had explored trading Hunter before 2022, and dealing the pass rusher seemed like a real possibility even this week. On Saturday, as he talked about his daily conversations with Hunter about his status, O'Connell stopped short of saying Hunter would be on the field in Minnesota without a new deal.
The Vikings' continued talks with Hunter and agent Zeke Sandhu, though, led to a Sunday morning deal that should again put Hunter among the league's highest paid edge rushers at least for 2023.
The team signed Marcus Davenport to a one-year, $13 million deal in March, before trading Za'Darius Smith to the Browns in June. The team will build its pass rush around Davenport and Hunter for this season, but the outside linebacker spot remains a long-term question with both players set to hit free agency in March.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
