Pundits have connected the Detroit Lions to pending free agent defensive end Danielle Hunter in offseason rumors. So it was not surprising that The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling said on the February 28 episode of the Access Vikings podcast that the Lions expressed interest in Hunter during the NFL combine.
However, his co-host, The Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer questioned whether that interest was genuine. Krammer theorized that the Lions could be showing interest in Hunter to drive the price up for the 29-year-old in the free agent market.
“How much of that is truthful? How much of that is just a division rival trying to do a smart thing of up a market of a guy they are trying to get the heck out of here?” Krammer said.
“[The Lions] would obviously want Danielle [Hunter] to either have as many suitors as possible so that he can have a high enough market that either hurts the Vikings’ salary cap situation or just gets him out of there. Which is what you’d want as a division rival.”
Krammer and Goessling said that the Chicago Bears are also showing interest in Hunter. But they implied the Bears could also be trying to raise the defensive end’s price.
According to Spotrac, Hunter has made about $94.8 million in his NFL career. The two Star Tribune insiders projected Hunter to cash in again this offseason and accept the highest contract offer.
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