Before signing with the Houston Texans earlier this year, veteran edge rusher Danielle Hunter spent the first nine years of his NFL career as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. But after the 2023 campaign, Hunter's contract expired, and he and the Vikings chose to go their separate ways.
After his departure, Minnesota filled his roster spot during free agency with a younger pass rusher who had a little less tread on his tires in Jonathan Greenard. Fast forward to Thursday and Greenard was just named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for his performance in November.
While Hunter still performed at a high level in 2023 (16.5 sacks) and made a number of memories during his tenure in the Twin Cities, the Vikings felt it was best to move on earlier this year and find someone new to lead the team's pass rush. So far, Greenard has helped Minnesota prove they made the right decision.
Minnesota Vikings edge rusher Jonathan Greenard has been the perfect replacement for Danielle Hunter
Before the start of the 2024 season, it was completely fair for any Vikings fans to be concerned about the team's pass rush after replacing Hunter with Greenard.
Hunter had established himself as one of the top edge rushers in the NFL during his time with Minnesota, while Greenard was a bit of an unknown to those outside of the Texans fan base. Looking back now, though, those concerns seem a bit silly with how well the Vikings' new pass rusher has performed this season.
Heading into Week 14, Greenard has accumulated 41 tackles (14 for a loss), an NFL-leading 60 pressures, 10 sacks, three forced fumbles, and two pass deflections. He also has a cap hit that is almost $8 million less than Hunter this year.
Much like how Minnesota's decision to move on from quarterback Kirk Cousins has proven to be the correct one, making Greenard the new leader of the team's pass rush has turned out to be everything the Vikings could have hoped for (and maybe even a little more).