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.

[kcbubb]

This was eye popping to me from the article. Is this right? Could we still trade for hunter?

Hunter only has an $8.3 million cap hit in 2022

Here’s the entire article.

https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/list...nielle-hunter/

If the Kansas City Chiefs are looking to improve their pass rush prior to the 2022 NFL draft, their options to do so are running thin.

The best remaining option for the Chiefs might be to call the Minnesota Vikings about a trade for DE Danielle Hunter. The Vikings have been fielding calls about Hunter since Saturday, March 12 and they’ve yet to find a suitor, but the clock is ticking for Minnesota here. Hunter is due a roster bonus of $18 million on Sunday, March 20th. At that point, his $25.83 million salary-cap hit is all but final for the Vikings.

Now, you’ve probably got some questions about Hunter, his cost and what trade compensation might look like in this scenario. We’ll answer all of those questions down below:

So why would the Chiefs opt to go with Hunter? All of the top free agents at the edge rusher position have already signed with other teams. You can add some mid-tier players and hope for the best, but that’s hardly going to improve your pass rush.

Hunter is still just 27 years old and won’t turn 28 until late October. So he’d fit the youth movement that Brett Veach currently has going on in Kansas City.

Now, Hunter is coming off consecutive seasons with injuries. In 2020, he had a herniated disk in his neck that caused season-ending surgery. In 2021, Hunter returned at the start of the season and was as effective as ever. He appeared in seven games, recording 38 total tackles, six sacks and 21 pressures. That’s an average of nearly a sack and three pressures per game. Unfortunately, in that seventh game, Hunter tore his pec and missed the remainder of the 2021 NFL season. That said, he’s expected to be back healthy and ready to go again in Week 1.

Prior to those two injuries, Hunter put together back-to-back double-digit sack seasons. He was tracking to have double digits again in 2021 had he stayed healthy. If you’re Kansas City, you haven’t had a double-digit sack pass-rusher since 2018 when Chris Jones and Dee Ford both hit double-digit numbers in sacks. That’s the big problem you’re trying to correct if you’re the Chiefs, turning some of those pressures that you’ve been getting into sacks. If you get a healthy Hunter for 2022, he may give you the best possible shot at doing exactly that.

You might have seen earlier that Hunter has a salary cap hit of $25 million in 2022, but that’s not what he’ll cost the Chiefs. In fact, if the team were to trade for him, he’d cost them just over $25 million in cap space for the next two seasons combined. The Vikings would incur an $11.4 million cap hit in the trade, leaving Kansas City to pay $14.3 million in 2022. Hunter only has an $8.3 million cap hit in 2022, but he has $2.2 million left attached to void years on his contract. That means the Chiefs would be paying $10.5 million for Hunter in 2023. It totals out to around $25.5 million spanning 2022 and 2023.


What could the trade compensation look like?

Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

The Chiefs would be getting a premium pass rusher at an affordable price for the next two seasons in this trade. The Vikings know this and they’re going to want a good asset in return. I’ve seen plenty of wishful thinking that they’d accept a third- or fourth-round draft pick in return for Hunter. That’s probably unlikely because it’s not like Minnesota doesn’t have options here. They can restructure his contract and free up cap space, but that would push more money into the future and create cap problems down the line. They could also just cut Hunter outright and save about $18 million in cap space.

If Brett Veach wants to acquire Hunter on his current deal, it might be a scenario like the Orlando Brown trade last season. KC trades pick No. 30 and a future pick to Minnesota. In return, they would send pick No. 46 and Hunter to the Chiefs. KC would drop 16 spots, but still would be in range to grab a pair of contributors in Round 2 as they did with Nick Bolton and Creed Humphrey a year ago. The Chiefs are paying for the right to keep Hunter on what is a very affordable two-year contract, as opposed to paying him millions more on the free-agent market.

[Halfcan]

Hunter would be a Beast (if he can stay out of the tub)-- but not worth giving up our #1 pick.

[BossChief]

If the Chiefs want a pass rusher with a MAJOR injury concern, just sign Smith and keep the pick.

This guy is a huge risk. I’d be ok with a 2023 conditional pick for him that can go as low as a 5th and as high as a second based app n playing time and effectiveness. That would protect our investment. That would only be if he’s ok playing on his original contract for those 2 years, too.

[duncan_idaho]

The issue/question with the trade - beyond his health - is what you have to give him in new money.

He's going to want a big deal, either this year or next. And you probably have to make the move tomorrow before the roster bonus is due, and then you're under the gun on that.

The idea was more intriguing when there was more time to negotiate. With a 24-hour-or-screwed window, like they would have on that roster bonus, it's out for me.

[kcbubb]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

He's going to want a big deal, either this year or next. And you probably have to make the move tomorrow before the roster bonus is due, and then you're under the gun on that.

The idea was more intriguing when there was more time to negotiate. With a 24-hour-or-screwed window, like they would have on that roster bonus, it's out for me.

Why do we need to negotiate? If the cap hit is low this year, this is remaining contract. Why not let him play it out?

Danielle Hunter’s contract has two years remaining with an additional two void years. His cap hit is

$26.1 million in 2022 for the vikes, $8M in trade for chiefs
$8.6 million in 2023
$2.2 million in 2024 (void years)

[Bump]

I'd give up one of our 7th's. Maybe include next years 6th as well. But that's about it.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by kcbubb

Why do we need to negotiate? If the cap hit is low this year, this is remaining contract. Why not let him play it out?

Danielle Hunter’s contract has two years remaining with an additional two void years. His cap hit is

$26.1 million in 2022 for the vikes, $8M in trade for chiefs
$8.6 million in 2023
$2.2 million in 2024 (void years)

… because he wants a new deal and might not report until he does?

[Titty Meat]

Would have to think the top dollar for edge has been spent take your time you'll get a serviceable player for a good deal

[smithandrew051]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

Would have to think the top dollar for edge has been spent take your time you'll get a serviceable player for a good deal

Correct. We’ll need to find our future stars at the position through the draft. The quality depth will be in FA.

Panicking and overspending will only come back to bite us.

[chop]

I’m not sure the Chiefs could make the cap work.

[Couch-Potato]

Hmmm, a torn pec isn't exactly a durability issue like a knee or the previous herniated disc issue. Sounds like he came back from the neck thing just fine, and this pec thing was just a fluke.

If we can get him by moving back from #30 to #46 + a 4th next year, I'd say you probably have to do that deal. You're not really giving up a pick, you're just giving up 16 spots and what amounts to a future comp pick. Not to mention, he's prob better than anyone you'd get at #30 considering he's a proven commodity in the NFL.

He'd be coming to us on a cheap deal with plenty to play for... prove he's healthy, new contract, Super Bowl!

[Chargem]

Think Vikings have now paid his roster bonus, so any trade is off the table.