NFL free agency: Could Danielle Hunter fill Giants’ need for a pass rusher?

Hunter, DL coach Andre Patterson have a long-time connection

NFL free agency begins on March 13, just a month from now. We have spent a lot of time focusing on which of their own free agents the New York Giants should try to keep, and a little time discussing potential targets from other teams.

As we get closer to the opening of free agency, we will spend more time on potential targets for the Giants, who have $21.847 million in cap space right now, per Over The Cap.

One area of need for the Giants is pass rush. Reader Andy Hunt has a suggestion for GM Joe Schoen that is worth discussing. So, let’s do that.

Andy asks: Interesting to see that Danielle Hunter is about to hit free agency. With his connection to our current D-Line coach, Andre Patterson, and the Giants need for more pass rush, do you see him as a player the Giants could pursue this offseason? He’ll be 30 in October but I’m already salivating at just the thought of him lining up next to Dexter Lawrence! Too old to sign or a proven veteran that can still be a game changer?

I love the idea of pairing Hunter and Patterson again. Patterson was the reason Hunter ended up with the Minnesota Vikings, and guided his development as an NFL player. There is a bond there. Not to mention, of course, that Hunter is still a force coming off the edge. His career-high 16.5 sacks in 2023, fifth in the NFL, attest to that.

The Giants have Dexter Lawrence on the interior. On the edge, the only player they can truly feel good about is Kayvon Thibodeaux. Azeez Ojulari is a talented former second-round pick, but has not been able to stay on the field the past two seasons. Beyond that, they don’t have much. I felt they made a mistake by not adding more on the edge last offseason. They can’t make that mistake again this time.

There are three factors to consider with a pursuit of Hunter. Age, fit in Shane Bowen’s defense, cost. Let’s look at all three.

Age

Hunter turns 30 at the end of November. In the NFL, that number almost always serves as a dividing line. Where the Giants are, and where Hunter is in his career, I can’t worry about that. Provided, of course, that the contract is right. We will get to that later.

The Giants are facing a crossroads year. They fell from 10-8-1 and a playoff victory in 2022 to a playoff-less 6-11 season in 2023. After a season where Daboll’s volatility and treatment of assistant coaches became a topic, and Daboll turned over a big chunk of his coaching staff, there is heat on the coach entering his third season. By extension, there is heat on Schoen since the GM and head coach came in as a tandem. If they can add a player who can be a difference maker in 2024, they need to consider it.

Hunter clearly can.

He is coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons, with 10.5 sacks in 2022 and 16.5 sacks in 2023. Hunter has had double-digit sacks five times in eight seasons.

Something at least equally as impressive is that Hunter played all 17 games in each of the past two seasons, and played career highs in snaps both of those years. In 2022, he played 906 snaps for the Vikings (78%). In 2023, he played 1,006 snaps (89%).

This is clearly not a player who is showing regression.

Fit

The Giants, of course, have a new defensive coordinator. There will be differences from what Wink Martindale did and how he utilizes personnel to the way Bowen will use them. That is important.

Hunter is listed as an edge defender, but he isn’t the same type of edge defender as Thibodeaux. Hunter can play standing up, but seems to have more experience coming off the edge from a hand in the ground stance. He also isn’t a player you want dropping into coverage with any frequency.

A LEO/REO, as our Nick Falato reminded me, is generally aligned in a two-point stance. That, though, doesn’t have to be the case. It is a wide-9 alignment with the player well outside the offensive tackle in a position to utilize his speed to rush. Hunter played 527 snaps as a LEO and 185 as a REO in 2023. In 2022, those numbers were 340 and 174.

That alignment is not something Martindale used a lot. Thibodeaux aligned as a LEO or REO just 135 times in 981 snaps last season. The LEO/REO alignment, though, is something Bowen used heavily in Tennessee.

The Titans had three edge players who aligned extensively in that role in 2023:

• Harold Landry was a LEO on 630 snaps and a REO on 13 last season.
• Denico Autry was a LEO on 248 snaps and a REO on 227.
• Arden Key was a REO 457 times and as a LEO 15 times.

So, it is a position that Bowen’s defense is reliant upon.

Cost

Pro Football Focus ranks Hunter No. 12 on its top 150 free agents list. PFF says:

Hunter was a revelation in new Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ blitz-heavy scheme, though he was just as productive in 2022. 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 finished another season with 900-plus snaps, 70-plus quarterback pressures and double-digit sacks.

PFF projects a three-year, $65 million deal with $40 million guaranteed, an average annual value of $21.67 million per year. That would put Hunter at the tail end of the top 10 when it comes to average annual salaries for edge defenders. Significantly, $40 million in guarantees likely leaves an out for the signing team in Year 3, when Hunter would turn 32.

Spotrac projects a similar three-year, $60.114 million contract.

Either of those deals is really a two-year financial commitment. Would you be in favor of that, Giants fans?