Trade for Danielle Hunter?

[kcbubb]

Price maybe a 2nd and 4th? Sounds too cheap?

https://vikingsterritory.com/2022/ge...edium=facebook

Two players for the Minnesota Vikings have chunky cap hits for the 2022 budget – Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter.

Cousins is a polarizing athlete, so the get-rid-of-him fodder is all over the internet. These are some teams Cousins might join if the Vikings actually trade their QB1. His $45 million cap hit is the obvious place to start for a team seeking to fix its underwater cap situation.


Trading Cousins would save $35 million in cap dollars for the 2022 season. New general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah may or may not trade Cousins. We shall see. When Minnesota rolled out its new head coach one week ago, it sure didn’t sound like Kevin O’Connell endorsed a Cousins trade.


Danielle Hunter
Dec 23, 2019; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Hunter is the other question mark. His cap hit in 2022 is $26 million, a steep figure for a player who missed 79% of all football games during the last two seasons. A healthy Hunter is a beastly productive player, setting the tone for a usually-good Vikings defense. Without Hunter, Minnesota’s defense stinks, guaranteed to collapse in the final two minutes of the 2nd Quarter and 4th Quarter. It’s like clockwork.


So, like Cousins, trading the expensive player elsewhere – Hunter, in this case – is on the docket for discussion. Should the Vikings invest megabucks in an EDGE rusher who plays 21% of the time? Probably not. However, Hunter’s injury history only began in 2020. Before that, he was durable.

Fans tend to believe Hunter would fetch a 1st-Round draft pick inside of a trade. The healthy version of the LSU alumnus probably would. Yet, per Pro Football Focus, the “1st-Round stuff” may be overstating value.

In an article by Brad Spielberger from Pro Football Focus detailing potential offseason trades, Hunter was sent to the Buffalo Bills – just like Stefon Diggs – for a substantially lower sum than 1st-Round draft capital.


Per Spielberger, Buffalo would send a 2nd-Rounder and 4th-Rounder to Minnesota for the 27-year-old Hunter. That trade package certainly isn’t insulting, but it is not the “1st-Rounder and change” some Vikings fans believe Hunter is worth. Spielberger wrote about the hypothetical trade:

“Hunter will still be just 27 years old in Week 1 of 2022 and is a force multiplier for any defense. The Bills used their first and second-round picks in 2021 on edge defenders Gregory Rousseau and Carlos Basham, but all three players can also kick inside and line up opposite guards. Hunter could be the final piece that puts the Bills’ roster over the edge. Last but not least, a reunion with former Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs could help ease the transition for Hunter to a new franchise. However, it could be too hard for Adofo-Mensah to “sell low” on an elite pass-rusher.”
Brad Spielberger | Pro Football Focus
It is unclear who is more likely to be traded, Cousins or Hunter. Cousins is durable. Hunter has been the antithesis of durable as of late. To a QB-needy team, Cousins likely commands a 1st-Rounder simply because his position is considered “more important” than the defensive line.

But if Hunter is the one traded, it is not a no-brainer for his trade value to send a 1st-Round pick in exchange to the Vikings. The conversation needs adjustment. To date, trading Hunter is perceived through a lens of snagging a 1st-Round draft choice – sometimes in the Top 10 spots.

Hunter is a fantastic football player who will spend 2022 trying to prove his injury maladies were outliers. If he departs the Vikings, a 1st-Rounder is not the bottom shelf for his trade value. Adjust your expectations.

[Simply Red]

I feel a warm, runny poo coming on.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

I feel a warm, runny poo coming on.

So basically Frank Clark.

[RockChalk]

Wife is huge Vikings fan, so we watch them every week. I would definitely trade a 2nd and 4th for Hunter if there was a 100% guarantee of his health. He changes a game when available. But since he's been hurt so often I just would not take the risk, since there is no guarantee of his health.

[KCUnited]

Dude would come here and forget how to tackle when healthy anyway.

Save the picks.

[PHOG]

7 games in 2 years? And a neck injury?

No thanks.

[oldman]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

So basically Frank Clark.

Exactly. Why trade anything for a part-time player with health issues and a bloated contract when we already have 1 on the payroll? True enough he's younger, but we need to clear cap space, not trade for less. There's lots of guys out there that were stars 2 years ago and are worthless today.

[Valiant]

Not for his money. Use those picks to draft.

[Dunerdr]

I'd ****ing do it in a heart beat. This guys better than Clark was in Seattle for much less. Guys tear pecs and come back from it, he played at a high level post neck surgery. Our comp 3rd makes up for the lost 4th, and the second is late. Not to mention this is supposed to be a large deep draft because fewer guys declared last year.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

I'd ****ing do it in a heart beat. This guys better than Clark was in Seattle for much less. Guys tear pecs and come back from it, he played at a high level post neck surgery. Our comp 3rd makes up for the lost 4th, and the second is late. Not to mention this is supposed to be a large deep draft because fewer guys declared last year.

So you're going to trade away picks in a large, deep draft? Sounds kind of counterintuitive to me.

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

So you're going to trade away picks in a large, deep draft? Sounds kind of counterintuitive to me.

When you look at the odds of getting a Dhunt with that 2? I realize there is money attatched but the way i see it were 3-4 years from a rebuild year or two. We are in a window with Kelce at the end of his career and Tyreek at peak performance. I realize theres an injury concern, but its not like Sammy Watkins imo a guy with foot and leg/hammy issues over and over. He showed the ability to play like a top end edge after neck surgery, and guys tear pecs and biceps seemingly at random every year.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

When you look at the odds of getting a Dhunt with that 2? I realize there is money attatched but the way i see it were 3-4 years from a rebuild year or two. We are in a window with Kelce at the end of his career and Tyreek at peak performance. I realize theres an injury concern, but its not like Sammy Watkins imo a guy with foot and leg/hammy issues over and over. He showed the ability to play like a top end edge after neck surgery, and guys tear pecs and biceps seemingly at random every year.

Dee Ford played well in spurts despite having back surgery. But look at it in hindsight - the 49ers basically got nothing out of him because he was done at that point.

[Chris Meck]

dude hasn't played in years. And you want to give up two picks? **** no.

If they cut him, I might kick the tires on a cheap deal, but I wouldn't give up anything in draft capital or serious cap for him.

[RunKC]

This is not the year to give up picks for an edge rusher. There’s a lot of quality in FA and the draft.

Especially when 3 of your 8 draft picks are in the 7th rd

[Dunerdr]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Dee Ford played well in spurts despite having back surgery. But look at it in hindsight - the 49ers basically got nothing out of him because he was done at that point.

Dee Ford was absolutely terrible as a player in general outside one season where he racked up some sacks. Hunter imo is not comparable. He has put it together for multiple seasons with 6 sacks, 12.5 sacks, 7 sacks then 14.5 back to back for '18 and '19. He has 20 more career sacks then ford in one less career year.

I see where youre coming from but to me where in a window with Kelce thats closing. And i think we should try to maximize this season and the next. I'm not willing to die on this hill by any means, i just think a second and a fourth is good value considering where we pick and the player. You get a player better than Clark ever was, for significantly less.

[Chiefshrink]

Originally Posted by Dunerdr

Dee Ford was absolutely terrible as a player in general outside one season where he racked up some sacks.

Agreed. And that was because we had a weak schedule that year.