Minnesota Vikings edge rusher Danielle Hunter is coming off of a 2023 campaign in which he set career highs in sacks (16.5), tackles (83), tackles for loss (a league-leading 23), quarterback hits (22), and quarterback pressures (41). This is all to say that when the 2024 league year begins at 4 pm on March 13th, Hunter will be one of the most sought after free agents on the open market.

The Vikings find themselves in a position where they would need to use a considerable portion of their available cap space in order to retain the 29-year-old four-time Pro Bowler, which according to ESPN NFL insiders Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler may indicate that Hunter may be playing elsewhere in 2024.

“The sense I get here in Vegas is that Danielle Hunter will be hard for the Vikings to keep,” per Graziano and Fowler. “He will have a very strong market, he turned 29 in October, and several teams had interest at the trade deadline. Chicago could look to add a pass-rusher to complement Montez Sweat in free agency and is very high on Hunter. The Jacksonville Jaguars are another team to watch, though they have to figure out Josh Allen's future.”

Let's start with the Chicago Bears, who will be one of, if not the most interesting team to keep an eye on this offseason. With a big decision to make at quarterback and somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million in cap space, general manager Ryan Poles will likely find himself aggressively pursuing upgrades to the Bears roster. Chicago will have to spend in order to keep All-Pro 24-year-old cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who seems to be a franchise tag candidate. But adding Hunter to a unit that was one of the best defense in the league in terms of scoring and turnovers forced over the second half of the season would be another offseason win for Poles.

As for Jacksonville, the Jaguars will have only about $15 million to work with as the enter free agency, and as Graziano and Fowler point out, keeping Josh Allen in-house will likely be their number one priority, but that may involve putting the franchise tag on the 26-year-old edge rusher who, like Hunter, set career highs in sacks (17.5), tackles for loss (17), quarterback hits (33), and quarterback pressures (46).

“The most likely scenario is Allen getting tagged and remaining with the Jacksonville Jaguars,” according to Dan Pizzuta of 33rd Team. “Teams don’t tend to let superstar players at premium positions walk away in free agency.”

Danielle Hunter is just one of the many impact free agents that will be available on the open market in just a month's time.