Breakout Patriots Pass-Rusher Named Top Vikings Prospect

The Minnesota Vikings have been looking for a pass rusher lately, and currently in the AFC East, a good matchup looks worse for a player in the final year of his rookie deal.

Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger ranked New England Patriots tight end Josh Uche as the Vikings’ top free agent in 2024 on Friday, Dec. 1. I did it. Minnesota still has a big decision to make on free agent Daniel Hunter, but also needs to add plenty of talent at linebacker to boost the pass rush and allow the front four to hit home runs at a league-leading rate.

Uche has been a very effective pass rusher since the 2022 season, but is still only playing 25 snaps per game as a rotation player. Uche has a 17.7% pressure rate this season with at least one quarterback pressure per game, picking up where he left off last season with 56 pressures on 285 carries.

Josh Uche produced a monster 2022 campaign for the Patriots.

New England selected Uche (No. 60 overall) out of Michigan in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He is playing out the final season of his four-year, $5.4 million rookie contract and will be a free agent next spring unless the Patriots use the franchise tag to keep him.

But Uche seemed ready for a bigger role after last season. According to Pro Football Reference, the 25-year-old linebacker had a breakout year, recording 14 QB hits, 11.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in 15 games. . Uche has recorded just 2.0 sacks in nine games this season, but has continued to apply pressure at a high rate that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet but makes a significant impact each week.

Josh Uche will likely have a big payday with the Vikings next season.

As a result of the production, Uche will receive a large annual salary in 2024. Spotrac estimates his market value at $14.5 million per year under the new four-year deal. While that’s a respectable number, it’s only half the average annual salary of the NFL’s highest-paid pass rusher, according to Over The Cap. Given his age and projected salary cap, Uche could be a preferred alternative to Minnesota’s Hunter. Hunter has been outstanding this season, recording a league-leading 18 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks in 12 games. However, he has had a recent history of serious injuries, which saw him miss the entire 2020 season and appear in just seven games next year.

When healthy, Hunter became a professional bowler. It has won the honor three of the last five years and is now on track to do so again in 2023. But Hunter turns 30 next season and will be looking for an expensive multi-year deal.

The Vikings did not extend the outfielder, opting instead to increase his salary to $17 million guaranteed with a $20 million incentive option. Minnesota also added a clause to the deal that prohibits the team from using the franchise tag to sign Hunter to a one-year contract in Minneapolis in 2024.

So signing Hunter is an expensive and somewhat risky proposition. The Vikings may need to trade cornerback Marcus Davenport after this season. Minnesota signed Davenport to a one-year, $13 million free agent contract, but injuries have kept him out of all but four games in 2023.