When the Vikings agreed to terms with three linebackers -- including pass rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel -- on the first day of the NFL’s free agent negotiating window on Monday, it seemed they knew Danielle Hunter’s time in Minnesota was about to end.
Danielle Hunter signs with Houston Texans, hitting the road with a two-year deal
The top edge rusher on the free-agent market is heading back to his hometown after reaching two-year, $49 million deal.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 13, 2024 at 11:29AM
On Tuesday, Hunter appeared to make it official.
According to multiple reports, the pass rusher is planning to sign with the Houston Texans, returning to his hometown on a two-year deal worth a reported $49 million. The contract’s $24.5 million average would equal the contract the Bears gave Montez Sweat as the sixth-highest for an NFL edge rusher, putting Hunter in a salary stratosphere he’s sought for a long time. NFL teams can officially sign free agents at 3 p.m. Central time Wednesday, when the new league year begins.
Hunter signed a five-year, $72 million deal with the Vikings in 2018, locking himself into a team-friendly contract before his 24th birthday. By 2019, when Hunter became the fastest player in NFL history to reach 50 sacks, the contract looked like a bargain for the Vikings. By 2020, when he opted for season-ending surgery on a herniated disc in his neck, he’d come to resent it.
The same day he opted for surgery in Oct. 2020, word emerged from Hunter’s camp that he wanted to become one of the highest-paid edge rushers in the NFL, and the Vikings turned $5.6 million of his base salary into a roster bonus on June 16, 2021, moving cash earlier in his deal as an olive branch on the eve of their mandatory minicamp. Hunter missed all but six games of the 2021 season with a torn pectoral muscle, and sources said in 2022 the Vikings entertained trading Hunter, but the team picked up his $18 million roster bonus for that season, when he led the team with 10½ sacks while pairing with Za’Darius Smith.
Hunter skipped the Vikings’ mandatory minicamp in 2023, and staged a hold-in at the beginning of training camp last July, when it appeared he could be traded if the team couldn’t reach a deal with him. But they reached an agreement with Hunter on July 31, giving him an $11.6 million raise while including $3 million of incentives based on his 2023 sack totals. He hit all of them, posting a career-high 16½ sacks and again thriving as a pass rusher in Brian Flores’ defense as the coordinator reduced Hunter’s coverage responsibilities from predecessor Ed Donatell’s scheme.
The performance made Hunter the top edge rusher on the market this spring, as he prepared to hit free agency for the first time at age 29. The Texans landed him on Tuesday, planning to pair him with 2023 first-round pick Will Anderson Jr. in coach DeMeco Ryans’ defense.
Hunter leaves the Vikings after nine seasons, ranked sixth in team history with 87½ sacks. He passed Everson Griffen, his longtime Vikings teammate, and Jared Allen on the team’s career list during the 2023 season, when he became the only Vikings defender selected to the initial Pro Bowl roster.
With Hunter gone, the Vikings will turn to Greenard, a former Texans pass rusher who had 12½ sacks last season, and Van Ginkel, who will play for Flores a second time after the Dolphins drafted him in 2019 when Flores was the head coach. Two other Vikings pass rushers hit the free-agent market this week. Marcus Davenport agreed to a deal with the Lions on Monday, and D.J. Wonnum reportedly has visits lined up with the Bears and Panthers.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
