The 2024 NFL free agency frenzy will soon begin and many voices around the league are expecting the Chicago Bears to be big spenders this year.
The Bears might have just been linked to the biggest name yet by ESPN's senior national reporter Jeremy Fowler.
Fowler mentioned the Bears and the Jacksonville Jaguars as potential teams to keep an eye on that could look to pursue Minnesota Vikings defensive end Danielle Hunter.
Here's what Fowler had to say in his Super Bowl buzz piece on ESPN:
"The sense I get here in Vegas is that Danielle Hunter will be hard for the Vikings to keep. He will have a very strong market, he turned 29 in October, and several teams had interest at the trade deadline. Chicago could look to add a pass-rusher to complement Montez Sweat in free agency and is very high on Hunter. The Jacksonville Jaguars are another team to watch, though they have to figure out Josh Allen's future." - ESPN's Jeremy Fowler
Hunter would be a home run signing by Bears general manager Ryan Poles if he in fact pulls the trigger on signing him in free agency. The free agency cycle will begin on March 13th and the Bears currently have 46.9 million in available cap space, per OverTheCap.
The Vikings pass rusher finished the 2023 season with 16.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, 22 QB hits, and was tied for a league-high 23 tackles for a loss. Through the first nine weeks of the season, Hunter led the league with 10.0 sacks and finished the season with the fifth-most in the entire league.
For context, Montez Sweat led the Bears with 6.0 sacks in 2023 after only playing nine games with his new team. Hunter had nearly triple that number with the Vikings. The Bears recently signed Sweat to a four-year extension worth $98 million that included $72.9 million guaranteed after trading with the Washington Commanders to acquire him before the 2023 trade deadline. Here's how much different that price to look if the Bears wish to acquire Hunter in free agency.
Danielle Hunter's Free Agent Contract Projection
Our very own AtoZ Sports' cap experts project Hunter landing a 3 year, $67.50 million contract that includes an average of $22.5 million per year with $40 million in guarantees. Sweat's contract will fall slightly above that number with his per year average sitting at $24.5 million. Essentially, the contract, money wise, should come out to be similar to the Sweat deal but likely will be shorter in terms of contract length.
Pairing Hunter and Sweat together would easily give the Bears the most dominant pass rushing duo in the entire league. That alone should give the front office, head coach Matt Eberflus, and defensive coordinator Eric Washington something to lick their chops when thinking about the possibility.
The Bears have a high percentage chance of signing one big name at the position but landing Hunter will give the Bears the largest fish in the pond and prove to the other teams in the league that the team will not be playing around this offseason.
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