EAGAN, Minn. -- The Vikings will forge through the remainder of the season without their top two pass-rushers, one of whom has not seen the field in 2020.
Hours after Minnesota traded Yannick Ngakoue to the Baltimore Ravens, recouping much of the draft capital they sent to Jacksonville when they acquired the defensive end in August, a league source confirmed to ESPN that Danielle Hunter will undergo season-ending neck surgery to repair a herniated disc.
NFL Network first reported the news of Hunter's surgery.
Hunter's injury was initially described as a "tweak" by coach Mike Zimmer and was expected to keep him out six to eight weeks, according to a source. The defensive end's last practice was Aug. 14, the Vikings' first day of practice during training camp.
Hunter, who had 54.5 sacks through five seasons and back-to-back Pro Bowl honors, signed an extension in 2018 and is set to be under contract for the next three seasons. In spite of his production, becoming the fastest player ever to reach 50.0 sacks, Hunter is the 18th-highest-paid defensive end with an average salary of $14.4 million per year.
It was widely expected that the Vikings would have to restructure Hunter's contract in the upcoming offseason to better reflect his value. But with the salary cap expected to drop considerably in 2021, Minnesota will soon need to decide whether they can make Hunter the league's highest-paid defensive end with a deal north of the $27 million per year paid to Los Angeles Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa, or potentially entertain offers for a trade.
The Vikings have not publicly acknowledged Hunter's season-ending surgery. Weeks ago, the defensive end traveled to New York to get a second opinion on his neck injury. Zimmer had said that the visit did not reveal any further clarity about his condition.
"[He's] still kind of mulling his options, I think," Zimmer said on Oct. 14.
Earlier Thursday, Vikings general manager Rick Spielman discussed the team's decision to trade Ngakoue to the Ravens and whether he thought back in August that Minnesota would be able to field both pass-rushers this season, in spite of Hunter's injury.
"I would say it was more -- because we didn't know where Danielle was at the time -- what you envision sometimes unfortunately doesn't always come true," Spielman said. "To have a Yannick and Danielle coming off the edges, to have an Anthony Barr and the way Zim has schematically used him to create pressure on the quarterback so he's one-on-one with running backs, that's how we envisioned it. Unfortunately it doesn't work out like that. You try to readjust with some of the top playmakers you don't have, especially on the defensive side. That's what the coaches are doing right now."