Featured Posts | Vikings

By Judd Zulgad |

Adam Thielen agrees to reworked contract, but no word on Vikings’ plan for Danielle Hunter

Cowboys Vikings Football
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen warms up before an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

The Vikings have yet to provide any indication on how Danielle Hunter’s contract situation will be resolved, but they did create more salary cap space on Friday by reworking the contract of veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen.

The team created about $5 million in cap room, according to the Star Tribune, adding to the approximately $14 million that was created with Kirk Cousins’ contract extension and the $6 million that was freed up with the restructure of Harrison Smith’s deal. Thielen’s cap hit for 2022 had been set to be just over $16 million.

Thielen’s new agreement includes $18 million guaranteed and he will get a raise to $14.4 million for this season, according to NFL Network. The key is a void year was added to the contract for salary cap purposes as the Vikings continue to move money into future years in order to create more space for 2022.

Hunter is due an $18 million roster bonus on Sunday — the fifth day of the league year — and there have been reports the Vikings are trying to trade him. Hunter has played only seven games over the past two seasons, but is the Vikings’ most talented player on defense when healthy.

Hunter is set to count $25.839 million against the cap, putting him second to Cousins. That figure would come down if the Vikings convert Hunter’s roster bonus into a signing bonus, and push some of the cap hits into future years, but so far that hasn’t happened and it’s unclear if the team would do that.