Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter’s 1st quarter sack vs. Bengals earns him massive contract bonus
Danielle Hunter’s sack was worth HOW MUCH money?
It’s a Saturday afternoon, and we’ve got NFL action going on, folks! If that’s not a good enough reason to smile, I surely don’t know what is. And hey, speaking of smiling, you know whose got a big, $3 million dollar grin on his face right now? Minnesota Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter.
When Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter was unhappy with his contract this offseason, the team placated him with a new deal that paid him $17 million guaranteed this year, and gave him the potential to earn another $3 million in incentives,” writes Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “Today against the Bengals, Hunter assured himself of the full $20 million. Hunter’s contract calls for him to get $3 million in bonuses if he hits 14 sacks for the season, and his sack on the Bengals’ first possession gave him 14.5 this year.”
Now here’s the interesting thing about the sack that earned Danielle Hunter $3 million: it wasn’t a sack on Bengals starting quarterback Jake Browning. It wasn’t on AJ McCarron or Joe Burrow either. It wasn’t Carson Palmer, Jon Kitna, Akili Smith, Andy Dalton or Jeff Blake either. Hunter’s sack came on Bengals tight end Tanner Hudson — yes, you read that correctly — who took a handoff and was preparing to throw a pass on a 3rd-and-short on Cincinnati’s first offensive possession of the game before Hunter brought him down for a loss.
With 14.5 sacks, Danielle Hunter is now just half a sack behind Los Angeles Chargers edge rusher Khalil Mack for the league lead.
