Raiders have been linked to Vikings’ pass rusher Danielle Hunter

There has been speculation that the Minnesota Vikings could end up trading star pass rusher Danielle Hunter and, naturally, the Las Vegas Raiders are being connected to him.

The Raiders always seem to be connected to players who could be on the trade market and because Hunter is an elite pass rusher, a potential Las Vegas fit makes sense because the Raiders badly need to improve their pass rush production. Raiders’ beat reporter Vinny Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal broached the topic of a Las Vegas pursuit of Hunter on Monday.

Hunter would not be inexpensive. He would likely cost at least a first-round pick and he would command a top-of-the-market contract extension. That may be difficult for the Raiders to do.

He is coming off a surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck and he missed all of the 2020 season. However, the 26-year-old defensive end was dominant in the two previous seasons — he had 14.5 sacks in both 2018 and 2019.

If the Vikings do decide to deal Hunter, there will be a huge market and the Raiders would probably investigate, but it would be a monster deal in terms of both salary and trade compensation.