Trading Danielle Hunter would mark true end of an era for Vikings
If Danielle Hunter's expected absence from Vikings mandatory minicamp this week puts his Vikings future "as much in question as ever," as beat writer Ben Goessling wrote, it's not too soon to think about what a trade might signify.
In multiple choice format, is it:
A) Just a sign of life in the NFL, when a player has already been in one spot for eight seasons and is bound to change teams because of schemes, regimes and money?
B) The surest signal that the Vikings are angling toward a rebuild and trying to get their salary cap in better shape in 2024 (and really 2025)?
C) The end of an era for the Vikings?
D) A testament to the excellence of Harrison Smith?
The answer is E, all of the above, to varying degrees. Star Tribune columnist Chip Scoggins and I talked about a possible Hunter trade on Tuesday's Daily Delivery podcast.
Let's take a closer look at every element of the multiple choice test.
A) Hunter checks a lot of boxes when it comes to a player whose time to move on might have arrived. He's an accomplished veteran, but one who hasn't had a truly special season since 2019. He will be 29 this season and is probably looking for one more big payday, but the Vikings have undergone a regime and scheme change since he was paid the last time.
The Vikings' window to truly contend for a Super Bowl might not arrive until 2025 based on talent, cap space and their QB situation. By then, Hunter will be 31. If Hunter wants a fresh start and more money, and the Vikings want future draft capital, the time might be now.
But that would also B) take the Vikings even further into rebuilding territory. While it doesn't mean they wouldn't be competitive this year or in 2024, it's a plain fact that they would be a better team with Hunter rushing the passer this season than with future draft capital. Hunter and the recently traded Za'Darius Smith accounted for more than half the Vikings' sacks last season. I have no idea where their pass rush would come from this year if Hunter is traded.
The defense, though, has been in decline for three years. The core that led the way to playoff berths in 2015, 2017 and 2019 — including two playoff wins and two division titles — has aged and departed. If Hunter goes, joining fellow 2015 draft class member Eric Kendricks, there will only be one player left from the 2019 defense on the 2023 Vikings. That's C) a real end of an era.
That one player left? It's D) Harrison Smith. The 2012 (!) first-round pick would be the last Viking drafted before 2018 left on the team if Hunter is traded. The Vikings already moved on from Kendricks (2015), Dalvin Cook (2017) and Adam Thielen (2013 undrafted free agent). That's some impressive longevity from Smith to outlast those players and any other players chosen in the five drafts after he was taken.
We'll see how this ends up playing out for Hunter. Many of the same sentiments expressed above are true even if he stays. It's just that Hunter would be a final and somewhat surprising piece of a major offseason overhaul.
Here are four more things to know today:
*The U.S. gymnastics trials are coming to Target Center in 2024. The only surprise so far is that my dad, a massive gymnastics fan, hasn't called me about it yet.
*Zach Lowe on the rise of the Nuggets is a very good read.
*Luis Arraez watch: He's all the way down to .391.
*I enjoyed this story by Marcus Fuller about the Shikenjanski family.
