Just when it looked like the Minnesota Vikings were ready to deal away another pass rusher, the team found a way to keep talented Danielle Hunter.
It's no secret that things can happen pretty quickly in the NFL. On Saturday, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler had some news regarding the Minnesota Vikings' sack leader from this past season, reporting that the Vikings were open to trading the defensive end.
"My hope is that we can work towards him being out on the practice field with us sooner rather than later," added head coach Kevin O'Connell (via Fowler). "He's been great. Looking forward to taking it one day at a time. I've not tried to hide my feelings. Danielle Hunter is a very special player. As soon as we can get him out here, you'll see him out and our fans will see him out here."
Did he say quickly? On Sunday morning, there was this update from NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.
Danielle Hunter drama with Vikings resolved quickly and without much noise
In mid-May, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah dealt defensive end Za'Darius Smith and a pair of Day 3 picks in 2025 to the Cleveland Browns for fifth-round selections in 2024 and '25. Hunter (10.5) and Smith (10.0) combined for more than half of Minnesota's 38 sacks this past season. Now Hunter is going nowhere at least for now. That's awfully good news for a Vikings' defensethat has been pretty awful in recent years.
The 2015 third-round pick from LSU returned to the Pro Bowl this past season. He started all 17 regular season games and finished with 65 tackles, the aforementioned 10.5 quarterback traps and one forced fumble while knocking down three passes. He has four stops and one sack in the playoff loss to the Giants.
After back-to-back 14.5 sack showings in 2018 and '19, Hunter missed all of 2020 with a neck injury. He bounced back in 2021 and got off to a strong start with six sacks in the club's first seven games. However, he missed the final 10 contests with a torn pectoral muscle.
The Vikings have a new defensive coordinator in Brian Flores, as well as some new faces on the front-seven in Dean Lowry and Marcus Davenport. For his sake and O'Connell, they surely hope Hunter can build on a promising showing in 2022.