The Biggest Decision: Danielle Hunter

hard pass for me. I get he didn't maximize his last deal and hasn't been able to really re work his contract and that sucks for him but it's not this current front office's job to make up for that

Makes sense, but here's the question: how is Kwesi planning to spend all his cap space? He's been clearing it for two years, can get some more back by releasing Smith, he might let Kirk leave, his analytics will tell him to let someone else pay Hunter...what is he saving for? Maybe KAM/KOC will prove more effective at recruiting the top-level FAs than Spielman/Zimmer, but this team does not seem like an attractive destination.


I'm usually the first to argue that player talent is the most important factor in predicting success, but I think in 2023 he had "a defense full of backups". This time last year he had an aging S (Smith), another S who had just been OK (Bynum), a couple 2nd-year CBs (Evans, Booth), newly-signed Murphy, Hicks, a UDFA and 2nd-year player competing at ILB, Wonnum, Phillips, Lowry...and Hunter. No one thought Josh Metellus was a good starter or that Bynum would take his play up a notch, or that Pace could be impactful and Phillips could be more than a gap-stuffing NT. Other than Hunter, Murphy, Hicks and (probably) Smith, I would have said everyone else on the 2023 defense would have been backups on most NFL teams. OK, it is worse if Hunter leaves, but you could argue that Flores will have about the same number of good NFL starters before this season. Again, what KAM does with the extra cap space if Hunter leaves will tell how much defensive talent Flores has to mold.

Why keep him around at his salary? His stats all come in garbage time and he never makes game saving plays. And we won what, 1 playoff game in the last 6 years with him on defense? We can get that from a cheap rookie

Yes, they can...but the issue with not signing him to an extension before 3/13 is that his current contract will void and the Vikings will absorb a dead cap charge of $14.9m against the 2024 cap before any new deal is reached. If the Vikings don't reach an extension with Hunter before 3/13, then it's a good bet he won't be resigning with Minnesota.

This is why there is a "legal tampering period" that occurs a few days before the League Year begins, so players and their agents can contact other teams and get an idea of what they are willing to pay and possibly give the existing team a chance to meet any outside offers. Also, it's common practice for player agents to "unofficially" gather that information at the NFL Scouting Combine, which takes place next week.

This is the question that preoccupies the people. Smith is as good as gone in my opinion. I suppose he could get a rework in there for a really cheap base salary, but both Metellus and Bynum out performed him and I think him retiring and rolling with Cine in his role or a cheap stop gap is the right play here. Let him stick around as a coach, but that brings us to 40M free, and that assumes the cap doesn't go up higher as some are speculating.

The point being is that this is the first year Kwesi can spend. Every day the tea leaves indicate the Kirk will walk, and we're drafting high enough to get a QBOTF... perhaps not one of the top 3, but if there is someone outside of that who we really like, we could get him and possibly do so trading down and getting some cheap starters in the process. Any big name wouldn't hit the cap that hard this year, and we have 9 figures in cap space next year...

So KAM can go all out. It doesn't mean no value signings. He still has to do some of that. But he can get some anchor pieces to account for holes he knows he won't fill in the draft this year or next. I do think flexibility is good, but he'd be wise to prioritize some FA signings that the numbers say are good bets and put in the money, especially where we're weak if "competitive" is the mandate (which I assume it is).

Hunter is going to get paid big. You can thank the Bears when they extended the DE they got from Washington. We should have traded Hunter last yr and got something for him. Like Kirk, let'em walk. If we resign both they eat up a huge part of our cap and we have many holes. I would rather sign Hunter compared to Kirk but think he goes elsewhere.