Report: Danielle Hunter Will Attend Vikings Minicamp
Dustin Baker
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Cross some offseason suspense off your list — tentatively — as the first bit of news dribbled out on Monday pertaining to the Danielle Hunter contract saga.
NFL Network‘s James Jones tweeted that the Vikings EDGE rusher will attend mandatory minicamp, which starts tomorrow in Eagan.
The #Vikings kick off their mandatory mini-camp tomorrow with players reporting today. Sources say that Danielle Hunter WILL be in attendance. @nflnetwork
— James Jones (@89JonesNTAF) June 14, 2021
This situation reaches a pivotal point on Tuesday. If Hunter no-shows, that occurrence would confirm the reporting from The Athletic‘s Chad Graff, who detailed Hunter’s contractual discontent in an article from March. Graff’s reporting may still be accurate, but at least the money dealings surrounding Hunter will not turn into a standoff-like gig with the Vikings front office.
A lot of Minnesota’s prophesied 2021 bounceback hinges on Hunter’s presence. The Vikings bumbled their way to the NFL’s fourth-worst defense in 2020 — a far departure from the product that head coach Mike Zimmer usually fosters.
The source of the woes can be tied to Hunter’s neck injury. He missed all of 2020 with a neck ailment. Resultingly, the Vikings ranked 32nd in the NFL for defensive pass rush, per Pro Football Focus.
Hunter signed a team-friendly deal in 2018, a time in his career that he had not entirely developed into the force most recognize now. As of June 2021, though, Hunter is about the 17th highest-paid EDGE rusher in the NFL, causing a sense of confusion for Hunter’s camp and onlookers of the sport. No matter how the situation is diced for analysis, Hunter is indeed underpaid. The only rational mindset that can theorize otherwise is weighing heavily his neck injury from 2020 — will Hunter return with the same production and fear-inducement that he showcased from 2015 to 2019?
The simplest way for fans to justify a large Hunter payday is to consider his 2018 and 2019 success as a “steal of a deal” or a “back pay.” Otherwise, one will be tormented with resentment for paying a player that is currently surrounded by injury-related question marks.
For EDGE rushers other than Hunter on the current roster, the Vikings employ Stephen Weatherly, D.J. Wonnum, Patrick Jones II, Janarius Robinson, Jordan Brailford, Jalyn Holmes, and Kenny Willekes. None of the men remotely approach the level of stardom that Hunter has achieved to date. A patch of games or [another] season without Hunter would spell disaster for a team that has otherwise high hopes for 2021.
That’s why this Jones tweet is so noteworthy and revealing.