Vikings' D.J. Wonnum is stacking up sacks in a contract year

A Halloween baby, D.J. Wonnum was 13 days past his 26th birthday when his play in the Vikings' 27-19 win over the Saints caused a reporter to ask how it felt, financially speaking, to be a young NFL edge rusher stacking sacks in a contract year.

Cha-ching?

"Obviously, it means a lot," the fourth-year pro said. "We're still in the season, still have a lot of games to go. Maybe I'll get 15 sacks. Who knows?"

Wonnum probably won't reach 15. But his six sacks through 11 games would lead 11 teams and tie for the lead on three more.

Not bad for a guy whose rookie contract makes him the league's 142nd highest-paid edge rusher at an average of $1.01 million per year.

"I don't think about it," Wonnum said of his contract year. "Just keep rushing, keep getting the quarterback, keep helping my teammates and my team. Then add them up at the end of the year and see what happens."

Coach Kevin O'Connell was praising defensive coordinator Brian Flores as a head coaching candidate earlier this week. Tops on KO's list of accolades was B-Flo's ability to get the most out of each player. The second name out of O'Connell's mouth after Danielle Hunter was D.J. Wonnum.

Hunter has 12 sacks, one off the league lead. He and Wonnum's 18 combined sacks are more than any other team's top duo. The entire Bears defense heads into Monday night's game at U.S. Bank Stadium with a league-low 15 sacks, led by former Viking Yannick Ngakoue's three.

"D.J.'s always had this in him," Hunter said. "It's just opportunities. He's learning and adapting as a player. He now understands what he's able to do. He's learning how to adjust to what guys are doing to him. He's come a long way."

The Vikings didn't view Wonnum as a starter heading into this season. Otherwise, they wouldn't have paid $13 million to rent Marcus Davenport for one prove-it year.

Davenport proved he can be a violent player with two sacks while playing 42% of the snaps in four games. He also proved he's a fragile player, suffering ankle injuries that caused him to be inactive for two games, play only four snaps in one game and spend the past five weeks on injured reserve.

Wonnum, meanwhile, has played every game, starting 10 while logging a career-high 80% of the defensive snaps.

"You don't want to lose a guy like Marcus," said safety Harrison Smith. "But really, ever since D.J. got here, he's always been a playmaker when he's been asked to step up."

A fourth-round pick in 2020, Wonnum started 14 games in 2021, notching a career-high eight of his 21 career sacks. A year earlier, his game-ending sack of Aaron Rodgers helped Mike Zimmer beat the Packers in Green Bay while using seven defensive rookies. It was Green Bay's only regular-season home loss that year.

This year, only five players rank second on their team with more sacks than Wonnum: Kansas City's George Karlaftis (7), Baltimore's Jadeveon Clowney (6½), Buffalo's A.J. Epenesa (6½), the Chargers' Joey Bosa (6½) and Philadelphia's Josh Sweat (6½).

Wonnum has four sacks in the Vikings' last four games. Hunter has three. Hunter, of course, also has a contract that expires after this season.

Hunter will command top dollar and can't be franchised. That's a financial sticky wicket for a team that still hasn't paid Justin Jefferson and could have to pay Kirk Cousins, depending on how far the Joshua Dobbs Mania takes the Vikings this year.

Wonnum won't get a Hunter-caliber contract, but he, too, could play his way out of the Vikings' price range. The Bears just traded for Montez Sweat and then gave him a four-year, $98 million deal that averages $24.5 million a year.

Sweat's a better player, but by how much? He's a year older than Wonnum, has never had a double-digit sack season and is having a similar 2023 season with 7½ sacks.

Sacks haven't been Wonnum's only splash plays this year. Going back to that Saints game, Wonnum's sack of Derek Carr was his second most impactful play of the game.

Wonnum's sack came two snaps after the Vikings took a 10-3 lead. On the next snap, Carr broke free with room to run for a first down on third-and-11. Wonnum raced in, caught him from behind and dropped him for a 10-yard gain. The Saints went three-and-out, and the Vikings scored again to lead 17-3.

"[Carr] had a lot of room," Wonnum said. "But I got a lot of speed. Just keep making plays, and good things happen."