Danielle Hunter has passed Everson Griffen for seventh on the Vikings' all-time sack leaderboard. With his name continuing to swirl in trade discussions, Hunter just continues to rack up sacks and dominate in 2023.
The result of Monday's game against the 49ers should put those trade rumors on hold for at least a week.
Early in the third quarter of the Vikings' upset victory in primetime, Hunter got to Brock Purdy for a sack that was initially ruled as a forced fumble recovered by Minnesota. After review, it was determined that Purdy was (narrowly) down by contact before he released the football.
Nonetheless, it counted as Hunter's NFL-leading ninth sack of the season and the 80th of his impressive career. It came in his 109th career game and his 80th as a starter.
Griffen racked up 79.5 sacks with the Vikings in 156 games from 2010 to 2021. Most of that production came between 2011 and 2019, but he returned to the Vikings in '21 and recorded five more sacks. For parts of six seasons, he and Hunter were teammates under Mike Zimmer.
Hunter, a third-round pick in 2015, became the youngest player in NFL history to reach 50 career sacks. Then injuries kept him to just seven total games between 2020 and '21. He returned to action and recorded 10.5 sacks last year and is now playing some of the best football of his career under Brian Flores in his ninth season.
Hunter's sack was the only one either team recorded in the Vikings' 22-17 win. It broke a tie with the Steelers' T.J. Watt, giving Hunter the league lead in sacks heading into Week 8.
Next up on the franchise leaderboard is Jared Allen, who starred for the Vikings from 2008 to 2013 and was inducted into the Ring of Honor this year. Here's an updated look at the Vikings' sack leaders, which includes four Hall of Famers:
- Carl Eller: 130.5
- Jim Marshall: 128.0
- John Randle: 114.0
- Alan Page: 108.5
- Chris Doleman: 96.5
- Jared Allen: 85.5
- Danielle Hunter: 80.0 (and counting)
- Everson Griffen: 79.5
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