New England Patriots the perfect trade spot for Kyle Rudolph
If any team is the ‘perfect’ team to trade for Minnesota Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph, it’s got to be the New England Patriots.
The Minnesota Vikings drafted Alabama tight end Irv Smith Jr. in the 2019 NFL Draft, and many took that as a sign they were set to move on sooner rather than later from Kyle Rudolph.
Rudolph has been one of the best tight ends in the NFL since he was drafted by the Vikings in 2011, and has started every game (64) over the past four seasons.
In those four seasons, Rudolph has racked up 24 touchdown catches and has been a key piece of the Vikings’ passing attack outside of the red zone. He’s one of the most high-character players in the league and a great teammate as well as a receiver and blocker.
So why are there rumors the Vikings could trade him?
As is always the case — money.
The #Vikings had held active extension talks with veteran TE Kyle Rudolph, but those broke off this morning, sources say. With Minnesota drafting TE Irv Smith and Rudolph due $7.5M, this development could lead to a trade elsewhere. There is interest around the NFL.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 10, 2019
The big deal here with Rudolph is, the $7.5 million he’s due includes no more guaranteed money, so the Vikings can get out of this contract with no dead money against their cap.
That $7.5 million could be huge for a team that has re-signed a large number of key players and brought in high-priced free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins last offseason.
The Vikings would prefer not to move Rudolph, but this is the ugly business side of football.
One team that could afford Rudolph’s $7.5 million cap number is the New England Patriots, and draft choices are also basically inconsequential to the Patriots at this point.
The Vikings aren’t going to get a day one or probably even day two pick for Rudolph, but if they could get a third-round pick from a team like the Patriots, they would probably take it.
And the Patriots could then effectively replace Rob Gronkowski, though Rudolph is no Gronk.
Despite the fact that Rudolph is not quite as dominant as Gronkowski, he’s a veteran player who plays the tight end position exceptionally well and he can be a big bodied outlet for Tom Brady to get the ball to.
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The Patriots only have Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Matt LaCosse atop their depth chart right now, and they didn’t draft anyone to take Gronk’s spot either.
Trading for Rudolph makes way too much sense for them if the Vikings will let it happen.