Vikings’ Resurgent Star Projected to Ink New $65 Million Deal in 2024

The Minnesota Vikings chose not to trade two stars ahead of the deadline, a decision that has worked out in the short term. However, both players’ prices are on the rise due to exceptional seasons.

Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus predicted that quarterback Kirk Cousins will sign a two-year contract worth $60 million total, even despite suffering a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 8 and playing next season at 36 years old. Outside linebacker Danielle Hunter, who is having a career year, is also poised to sign a massive new contract.

“Hunter has been a revelation in new defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ blitz-heavy scheme, though he was just as productive in 2022,” Spielberger wrote. “Teams that run a 3-4 or 4-3 could probably find a way to effectively deploy Hunter, and injury concerns of a few years ago seem like distant memories. He is on pace for another season with 900-plus snaps, 70-plus quarterback pressures and double-digit sacks.”

Spielberger projected Hunter will sign a three-year deal worth $65 million in total, with $40 million in guaranteed money.

Whether Hunter will sign that deal in Minnesota or elsewhere remains an open question.

The star outside linebacker pushed for a new contract or a trade all summer before eventually renegotiating his the final year of his current deal to pay him a guaranteed $17 million. Incentives, all of which Hunter has already hit, made the maximum value of the agreement $20 million.

Also included in the contract was a stipulation that Minnesota can not apply the franchise tag to Hunter to keep him with the franchise through 2024 on a one-year deal worth the average of the top-five salaries at his position across the NFL.