The Vikings have virtually no salary cap space at the moment, with Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune reporting that the club is expected to have just $5.24MM in room when free agency opens on Wednesday. Goessling takes a position-by-position look at some of the difficult decisions Minnesota will have to make in order to free up some cash, and one of the most notable names involved in his piece is tight end Kyle Rudolph.
Per Goessling, it is believed that the Vikings are in talks with Rudolph about taking a pay cut in 2019, the final year of his current contract. Rudolph is due a $7.275MM salary, and roster/workout bonuses would increase the club’s cash outlay and corresponding cap hit to $7.625MM. The Vikings could shed that entire figure from its books by cutting Rudolph and would absorb no dead money by doing so, but there is not much by way of proven talent behind Rudolph on the depth chart.
Rudolph has started all 16 regular season games for the Vikings in each of the past four seasons, but he will turn 30 in November and had offseason ankle surgery last year. He earned Pro Bowl nods in 2012 and 2017, and he has been a solid contributor and redzone threat throughout his career, but his raw statistics have never been particularly eye-popping (though he did have 840 receiving yards in 2016, from 132 targets). Nonetheless, his overall body of work and his recent run of durability suggest he could at least match his 2019 pay if he were to hit the open market — especially since blocking tight end Nick Boyle just earned a three-year pact paying him $6MM per year from the Ravens — so he may choose to refuse a pay cut. Either way, the Vikings will be in the market for a pass-catching tight end, either in free agency or the draft.
Goessling’s entire piece is worth a read, as it includes his thoughts on the Minnesota futures of other notables like Everson Griffen, Mike Remmers, and Laquon Treadwell.
Signing Kirk Checkdown Cousins was really worth it huh?
Overrated bum
Yeah how dare they get a QB who can actually throw the ball.
How did that work out? All that guaranteed money for a glorified game manager. Kirk cousins sucks
I don’t get how anyone could watch the whole Vikings season and think that Cousins was the problem. Especially in context with the last several seasons.
He doesn’t deserve to be asked to take a pay cut but I guess that what you do before you let go of a talented player. I am sure someone will offer a later round pick for him.
This is why I don’t blame players for holding out for a new contract. The whole you signed a contract argument is asinine when the team tries to rip up the contract themselves.
I completely agree
How much of a pay cut is the GM taking for creating the cap mess?
Imagine Rudolph agreeing to a pay cut and then a month down the road, Thielen’s extension is announced. Not that it will happen, but if it did, Rudolph would understandably be pretty ticked off. I’m sure him and his agent have that thought in their minds. Vikings may end up robbing Peter to pay Paul.