Kyle Rudolph’s Next Destination
Dustin Baker
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Longtime Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph was born on the day that the Berlin Wall fell in Germany. It was November 9th, 1989, and the wall separating eastern and western Germany toppled, signifying the end of the Iron Curtain and Communism in Eastern and Central Europe.
Things change. So might Rudolph’s tenure with the Vikings in the coming weeks.
Rudolph is slated to re-enter free agency in 2024, but his association with Minnesota is heading for a split well before that election year. The 31-year-old recently indicated his reluctance to restructure his contract as he believes his skill set is still very much in line with the league’s upper-echelon tight ends. And, he probably isn’t wrong. The standoff revolves around the emergence of 22-year-old tight end, Irv Smith Jr., and his blossoming role in the Vikings offensive gameplan. Because Minnesota executes a run-first approach with Dalvin Cook (who is paid handsomely), a robust two-TE strategy is not a requirement – especially one where the older tight end is the sixth-highest paid tight end leaguewide.
There is also the issue of targets. Quarterback Kirk Cousins must get the football in the hands of Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson foremost when the Vikings air it out. After Cook, Thielen, and Jefferson’s mandatory touches, table scraps are left for the tight ends.
Rudolph, as evidenced in his words, is not on-board with table scraps.
Either via trade or outright release, he is likely heading yonder in 2021. Circle the Cincinnati Bengals on your bingo boards.
A Burrow Blanket
Prior to a season-ending injury suffered right before Thanksgiving, rookie signal-caller Joe Burrow was trending upward. Burrow “looked the part.” He was highly coveted after a Heisman Trophy-winning season at LSU in 2019 and was subsequently scooped by the Bengals with the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. As the draft hype percolated in the weeks before the draft, Burrow to Cincinnati was an utter no-brainer.
Injury notwithstanding, the Burrow pick seems like an intelligible one, for now. He threw the football – a lot – before his season caved, an oddity for a rookie quarterback. Most organizations prefer to ease their quarterback into things with a cogent running game. In this case, the Bengals employed Joe Mixon at RB1. Nevertheless, Cincinnati elected to air it out.
If they duplicate this tactic in 2021, Burrow needs more pass-catching options. Kyle Rudolph’s top singular talent (he has several) is his hands. He doesn’t do drops. One-handed catches, in fact, illuminate the reliability of his mittens.
CIN Not Loaded with TE Talent
Should the Bengals take the plunge in The Rudolph Sweepstakes, the Notre Dame alumnus will not have difficulty asserting himself. The two tight ends on roster with quasi-name recognition are C.J. Uzomah and Drew Sample. Those gentlemen may develop into fine young lads, but that trajectory is speculative. The other three tight ends associated with the team are seemingly anonymous in football-speak.
And the Bengals have cap space – a considerable x-factor for this transaction. As the offseason formally begins, Cincinnati has upward of $35 million in funds to spend on personnel. Thatis the fifth-most in the NFL behind the Jaguars, Colts, Jets, and Patriots.
If there is interest in Rudolph, the Bengals have the roster room and resources to pull the trigger. As a TE1 or TE2, he would join an arsenal of pass-catchers that includes Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, Auden Tate, and [maybe] A.J. Green. With the aforementioned Mixon to the back of him, that depot of assets should be enough for Burrow to excel in his sophomore campaign.
Cincinnati threw the football on 60% of offensive snaps in 2020 – the 13th-most in the business. The Vikings passed 54% of the time, sixth-least in the league. There is your stat to consider for Rudolph-to-the-Bengals. Cincinnati needs reputable pass-catching bodies. Rudolph is that.
The Familiar Hometown Narrative
Finally – the cliché talking point. Rudolph was born in Cincinnati. He played high school football there, too. The hometown angle is born. His alma mater, Notre Dame, is a four-hour drive from Cincinnati.
While the hometown narrative is not ironclad, it is often substantive. Dwayne Wade returned to Chicago for a year toward the end of his career in the NBA. Adrian Peterson whispered for quite some time that he would enjoy playing for the Dallas Cowboys or Houston Texans – franchises residing in his home state. Former Detroit Lions WR Roy Williams left Detroit for Dallas a decade ago.
There is something to the bring-me-home aspect of sports. Rudolph joining the Bengals would be further confirmation of the tendency. The only scenario by which he remains with the Vikings is if the front office gets creative with his contract. The salary cap is facing condensation or full-scale reduction, so painful roster decisions are on the docket. Rudolph is probably the first in line, although his departure will impact many fans on a visceral level. Cincinnati make sense.