Cutting Dalvin Cook Means Vikings Must Extend Danielle Hunter

Danielle Hunter appears to have the upper hand with the Minnesota Vikings these days, and the pass rusher seems intent on pressing his advantage.

Hunter’s position of strength comes after the Vikings have made a series of moves to improve their salary cap situation this year. The departures of Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Za’Darius Smith and Eric Kendricks means the Vikings have said goodbye to a slew of their best players.

While they have added free agents — defensive end Dean Lowry from the Green Bay Packers, defensive back Byron Murphy from the Arizona Cardinals and outside linebacker Marcus Davenport from the Saints – the star power they have lost is significant.

Hunter is a flawed superstar who is scheduled to earn $5.5 million in the final year of his contract with the Vikings. He had a team-leading 10.5 sacks last year, but he struggled with consistency. He appeared to dominate in several game and disappear in others.

That makes some sense because injuries had limited him to 7 games in the previous two seasons. Upon his return last year, he was somewhat effective but he looked nothing like the dominant player he was in 2018 and 2019 when he registered 14.5 sacks in both of those seasons.

If the debate about Hunter would have come at the start of free agency, it would have made sense. They might have held on to Smith – who had 10 sacks last year – or gone after a big-time pass rusher.

But now time is short, and the Vikings don’t have other options in front of them. That’s why Hunter is holding out. He wants to secure his future and make sure he gets paid for more than just the 2023 season.

Hunter is not going to participate in the team’s mandatory minicamp, and he will gladly take the fine that that the team will impose on him. They don’t have another significant pass rusher on the roster, and they do have a new defensive coordinator who is supposed to turn a defense that has been awful for the last three seasons and make it a winner.

Brian Flores is an excellent coach, one who earned his stripes while working with Bill Belichick. He put together a solid team as the Miami Dolphins head coach, and Mike Tomlin swore by him last year with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But Flores is not a miracle worker. He may employ multiple fronts and alter his strategies depending on the opponent, but he can’t win without great players. Hunter may or may not be a great player at this point in his career, but if he leaves, the Vikings don’t have anyone who can do what he had done in peak years.

The only possible alternative is Chase Young of the Washington Commanders, who did not get his fourth-year option picked up by the team. He will be a free agent at the end of the upcoming season, and if the Commanders want to get some value for him, they will need to trade him.

So, that’s not much of an alternative, because it would clearly cost the Vikings a draft choice or more. The Vikings have lost enough talent at this point, and trading away their future would appear to be a dubious strategy for Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

Losing Dalvin Cook is one thing, but losing both Cook and Hunter would be too much for both the team and the fan base. The Vikings need to get Hunter back in the fold by the start of training camp – and hopefully sooner – if they want to be the team to beat in the NFC North again this season.