The Final Word On Kyle Rudolph Speculation

image courtesy of Vikings.com

We have hit a bit of a slow patch for this offseason. The Vikings start Organized Team Activities this week, which means that we will have some new coverage coming up, but for now it seems we are content to cling to any scrap of Vikings news we can. That is why we are once again talking about the possibility of a trade involving Tight End Kyle Rudolph.

A report from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer says that the Patriots have talked to the Vikings about Kyle Rudolph. Of course we have no idea what the extent of those talks are. The Patriots have done a lot to try to replace Rob Gronkowski, who rode off into the sunset following New England’s Super Bowl victory last season, by bringing in Benjamin Watson, Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, and Matt Lacosse.

These move haven’t done much to stem the flow of rumors centered around the Vikings moving the man who been their TE1 for years. It made sense before the draft to talk about the possibility of a move as Rudolph is set to make $7.625 million this season, and the Vikings were extremely strapped for cash to sign their rookies. It even made sense immediately following the draft when the Vikings took Irv Smith Jr in the second round. However, Eric Kendricks decided to accept a restructure so that the Vikings could sign their final draft pick, Garret Bradbury.

When you consider how much the Vikings new offensive guru, Gary Kubiak, loves 2 Tight End sets, it makes less and less sense to let Kyle Rudolph go unless you are getting a big haul for him. Of course the Rudolph is only signed through this season so even more hoops would have to be jumped through to make the deal happen as it is unlikely that a team is going to take him on as a “rental” for one season.

Rudolph has said that he will be at OTA’s this week, so it’s unlikely that he would do anything drastic like hold out. The only hope that Vikes have to move Rudy would be if another team really needs a Tight End when training camp rolls around. So, unless we see real news drop from a reliable source, Kyle Rudolph is Minnesota Viking for this upcoming season. Now we can put this topic and speculation to bed until at least training camp.

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