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Minnesota Vikings: Danielle Hunter the first domino to fall

By Sayre Bedinger

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 17: Danielle Hunter #99 of the Minnesota Vikings celebrates after sacking Andy Dalton #14 of the Cincinnati Bengals in the second quarter of the game on December 17, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 17: Danielle Hunter #99 of the Minnesota Vikings celebrates after sacking Andy Dalton #14 of the Cincinnati Bengals in the second quarter of the game on December 17, 2017 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /
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The Minnesota Vikings have begun re-signing some of their key young players, giving Danielle Hunter a contract extension. What’s next?

The Minnesota Vikings have not been shy about throwing cash around this offseason, and that continued into June as they have reportedly re-signed pass rusher Danielle Hunter to a massive contract extension.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network had the initial report:

And Ian Rapoport followed up with the numbers:

On an average per year basis, that kind of money makes Hunter the seventh-highest paid 4-3 defensive end in football, just behind his teammate with the Vikings Everson Griffen.

Hunter is entering his fourth year in the NFL and is still just 23 years old. The Vikings struck gold with him as a third-round draft pick in 2015 and he has already grown into an explosive edge player, racking up 25.5 sacks in his first three NFL seasons, including a career-high 12.5 sacks in 2016.

The crazy thing with Hunter is, the Vikings aren’t necessarily just paying for potential at the age of 23. They are paying for proven production over the course of three years in a rookie contract.

Hunter, however, is merely the first domino to fall for the Vikings in what should become a very interesting situation to follow.

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The Vikings opted for the most expensive possible option they could find at quarterback this offseason, and in doing so, they understood the consequence of losing some very talented players at other positions.

Also up for contract renewals by 2019 are Stefon Diggs and Anthony Barr, and the Vikings are already projected to have just over $11 million in cap space in 2019.

There will be some cuts in Minnesota to try and make things work and keep the core of the team together, but Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman talked all offseason about the defense staying in-tact being a top priority.

Diggs is going to command top receiver money, and the Vikings simply may not be able to afford that with their current cap situation.

They’ll try and hold on to as much of the space they have this year to roll over to 2019 and also hope that the NFL salary cap increase is substantial enough to help them afford a high-priced player.

If the Vikings are able to somehow find a way to keep the majority of this core together for the next three seasons, they have a chance to win a lot of games and perhaps the first Super Bowl in team history.

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