Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph said Monday at Mike Zimmer’s charity golf event that he’s not worried about trade rumors and hopes to finish his career in Minnesota.
“I can’t focus on that a whole lot,” Rudolph said via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “I’m at voluntary workouts every day like I’ve always been. I’m not going to change my approach to this football team and what this organization means to me.”
Rudolph will be an unrestricted free agent in 2020 and counts $7.625 million against the cap. The Vikings selected TE Irv Smith in the second round, leading to speculation Rudolph might be moved.
Extension talks between Rudolph and the Vikings reportedly broke down last Friday. Rudolph says he wants to finish his career in Minnesota and he hopes they will resume soon.
“My family, myself, we want to be here and we’re going to do everything we can to be here,” Rudolph said, per Cronin. “But that doesn’t mean if the alternative happens, and we do get traded, change happens.”
According to Chris Tomasson, there will be a resolution to Rudolph’s situation by the start of OTA’s on May 21.
The Vikings are hard up against the cap with only $1.17 million in space. Per Tomasson, Rudolph said he knows the Vikings are in a “delicate situation” with the cap and that extension talks had actually been put off until recently because of that.
For what it’s worth, the Patriots and Raiders have been mentioned as speculative landing spots for Rudolph.
Rudolph, 29, is a former second-round pick of the Vikings back in 2011. He’s currently in the final year of his five-year, $36,500,000 contract and stands to make a base salary $7,275,000 for the 2019 season.
In 2018, Rudolph appeared in all 16 games for the Vikings and caught 64 passes for 634 yards receiving and four touchdowns.
We’ll have more regarding Rudolph as the news is available.
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