While the Minnesota Vikings reached a revised one-year deal with DE/OLB Danielle Hunter over the weekend, sources said the team had been looking into the pass-rusher market recently with conversations with other teams.
Several Edge Rushers Remain Available in Free Agency for the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota lacks a quality interior pass rusher, and Hunter and veteran OLB Marcus Davenport are on one-year deals. Meanwhile, their other best pass rusher, D.J. Wonnum, enters this season in the final year of his rookie deal.
Davenport, who signed for one season worth a maximum of $13 million ($8.5 million signing bonus, $1.5 million base salary fully guaranteed, $2 million in per-game roster bonuses, $1 million workout bonus), has missed significant time over his career due to injury (toe, foot, shoulder, pectoral).
The team is going through a complete defensive philosophy change under new defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who is expected to run several of the same concepts that he learned during his time with the New England Patriots.
That scheme features a lot of pre-snap and post-snap movement on the back end, which typically causes the quarterback to hesitate just a little longer, which could result in a higher turnover rate.
If the Vikings want to consider adding another free agent edge rusher to play alongside Hunter, Davenport, and Wonnum, they’ll find plenty of options still available in free agency. The veteran edge defender market has been slow this offseason, and Leonard Floyd and Frank Clark had to wait until the summer to sign with the Bills and Broncos, respectively.
Jadeveon Clowney, Yannick Ngakoue, Justin Houston, Carlos Dunlap, Trey Flowers, and Kyle Van Noy all remain unsigned. Not all of those options might be in Minnesota’s 3-4 defense, but Houston, Flowers, and Van Noy all have experience in odd fronts.
The Vikings’ free agent choices on the interior are more limited. Matt Ioannidis and Chris Wormley are still looking for teams, while Minnesota could consider aging veterans like Akiem Hicks (34), Linval Joseph (35), or Ndamukong Suh (36).
