This doesn’t come as a huge surprise.
The Vikings and tight end Kyle Rudolph were hoping for a contract extension that would reduce Rudolph’s $7.625 million salary for the 2019 season.
Instead, it appears as if Rudolph will play elsewhere. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that the Vikings and Rudolph have broke off extension talks.
The Vikings have just $1.2 million in cap space and have yet to sign first-round pick Garrett Bradbury.
With the team drafting Irv Smith Jr. in the second round, Rudolph’s days in Minnesota were likely numbered, but it wasn’t thought to be this quick.
The fact that there is interest among other teams is a good thing for the Vikings. How much could the Vikings get for a 29-year-old tight end in the final year of his contract? That will be for GM Rick Spielman to figure out.
Rudolph, 29, has always been a solid tight end, but he hasn’t been the dynamic tight end the Vikings were hoping he’d be when they drafted him in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame.
But that’s not to say Rudolph hasn’t been one of the more productive tight ends in the league. Rudolph has made two Pro Bowls in his career and is coming off a 2018 season in which he caught 64 passes for 634 yards, both rank second as far as career highs are concerned.
He’s also a fantastic leader for this team and absolutely wonderful in the community.
