Potential Patriots Target Expected To Receive ‘Massive’ Contract Offer

If Danielle Hunter’s eight-season run with the Vikings ends this offseason, many think the free-agent edge rusher will be the top player available at the position.

Fellow edge rusher Josh Allen is expected to be franchise tagged by the Jaguars and the Panthers should do the same with Brian Burns ahead of Tuesday’s tag deadline. Those developments would help Hunter, a four-time Pro Bowler who compiled 16.5 sacks in 2023.

ESPN ranks Hunter No. 8 on its top 50 free agents while Pro Football Focus ranked the 29-year-old 12th on its top 200.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Sunday shared what he heard about Hunter’s market during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

“Yeah, not as many numbers floated around Indy as usual, but it’s safe to say teams are expecting Hunter to be in — or at least searching for — a pretty massive price range, something well north of $20 million per year,” Fowler wrote. “And the production might just justify it: Hunter has averaged 14 sacks over his past four healthy seasons.”

Spotrac projects Hunter will receive a contract in the neighborhood of three years and $60 million. Similarly, Pro Football Focus projects Hunter will get three years and $65 million with $40 million guaranteed.

Only 11 edge rushers in the NFL currently surpass $20 million annually.

The New England Patriots, specifically, have been speculated to be a potential landing spot for Hunter. New England could benefit from a pass rusher opposite Matthew Judon, who enters the final year of his contract. And the Patriots have more than $100 million in cap space after releasing cornerback J.C. Jackson last week.

Minnesota has made an effort to re-sign Hunter, per ESPN’s Dan Graziano. But if Hunter reaches free agency, which starts March 13, two days after the legal tampering period, New England and others will have the chance to add one of the best defenders on the market.