The Minnesota Vikings start their voluntary offseason program this week and one of the team’s star players is not expected to be in attendance
ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler reported on Monday that Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter is not expected to attend the start of the team’s voluntary offseason program. While everything at this stage in the offseason is voluntary, players usually attend the program(s) unless they are in a contract dispute with their club or have an excused absence.
In Hunter’s case, the absence is likely due to his contract, according to Fowler. Hunter is set to make a base salary of $4.9 million in the final year of his deal. That is well below market value for the three-time Pro Bowler, who has recorded 45 total sacks since 2018 and a total of 71 for his NFL career.
“The Vikings value Hunter, who recorded 10.5 sacks last year despite scheme changes. “So, it’s possible something could be worked out on the contract front,” Fowler tweeted.
In any event, it’s the latest issue the Vikings have to work through between Dalvin Cook, Za’Darius Smith and now Hunter. It makes sense because a new regime is at the helm in Minnesota, but it’s not often that a team that went 13-4 a season prior is looking to make significant changes.
The NFL world reacted to the brutal Vikings news on social media:
So his situation is a bit unique but I also want to use it so people can understand the perils of front loading contracts and why some orgs may wish to avoid.
Once a player is paid his worth and looking at a year where he’s not, he’s not just gonna say “oh you got me last year” https://t.co/oMAKvLv2Xi
— B (@BShulkes) April 17, 2023
They should cut Cook to create some cap space https://t.co/UyA6aJ0PUY
— Dan Jablonski (@dan_jablonski) April 17, 2023
Danielle Hunter has been unhappy with his contract for a while. The Vikings moved $7.25M of his 2023 compensation to 2022. He is scheduled to make $5.5M in 2023. https://t.co/qXdu8wlJqi
— Joel Corry (@corryjoel) April 17, 2023
He has every single right to not be there lmao, $4.9 (at the moment) is criminal https://t.co/TN9xrg056V
— Brev (@brevmanbane) April 17, 2023
This is such a weird situation because his contact was almost comically undervalued for him, but then he couldn’t stay healthy so it ended up kind of being perfect? It’s weird https://t.co/7yDtlbDPB2
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) April 17, 2023
Just trade Danielle Hunter, this is every year thing for him, now two disgruntled defensive ends for the Vikings https://t.co/VRb5H6mPDS
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) April 17, 2023
