Vikings' Danielle Hunter, Byron Murphy Jr. Join Klutch Sports

Klutch acquired ELITE Athlete Management and its 35 NFL clients, including two Vikings.

In the world of athlete representation, powerhouse Klutch Sports Group — founded by Rich Paul — has acquired ELITE Athlete Management, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapaport. That means ELITE CEO Zeke Sandhu and his 35 NFL clients are all joining Klutch.

Two of those clients are Minnesota Vikings stars Danielle Hunter and Byron Murphy Jr., the former Cardinal who was acquired in free agency this offseason.

That's particularly notable as it pertains to Hunter, who has been surrounded by contract drama for several years now. The Vikings' 2015 third-round pick signed a five-year, $72 million extension in 2018 after his first year as a starter, a deal that would run through the 2023 season. He then immediately made that contract look like a steal for the Vikings by posting consecutive 14.5-sack Pro Bowl seasons in '18 and '19. In October 2019, Hunter became the youngest player in NFL history with 50 career sacks.

The Vikings' restructured Hunter's deal in 2020 — and then he missed the entire season with a neck injury. In 2021, he held out from team activities until another restructure gave him a big signing bonus up front and an even bigger roster bonus that would hit in 2022. Hunter got off to a red-hot start to the '21 season, but a pectoral injury ended it less than halfway through. Last year, the Vikings again restructured Hunter's deal by spreading the roster bonus out over the two years left on his deal and two void years.

Now, Hunter — who has been absent from the start of Vikings voluntary workouts — has a base salary of just $4.9 million this year due to those previous restructures. He wants a new deal, so a contract extension or a post-June 1 trade might be the options that make the most sense. It's unclear if this move to Klutch would affect those discussions at all, but it's certainly possible.

Murphy joined the Vikings on a two-year, $17.5 million deal and will step in as their No. 1 cornerback this season in the wake of Patrick Peterson's departure.

Some of Sandhu's other big NFL clients coming over to Klutch with him are Odell Beckham Jr., Christian Kirk, Isaiah Hodgins, and Zay Jones.

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