The Minnesota Vikings are seemingly trying to do their best when it comes to keeping tight end Kyle Rudolph, who doesn’t seem to be pleased after not receiving a new deal and watching the Vikings select tight end Irv Smith Jr. in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Despite this, coach Mike Zimmer was very adamant that the team still wants him.
According to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Zimmer spoke to some media at his golf outing earlier today, and was asked about the Rudolph situation.
“I've had conversations with Kyle and quite honestly I really love all my players. We expect Kyle to be here but sometimes business gets in the way,” he said.
Of course, the message there is clear, with Zimmer wanting to keep Rudolph around.
However, the acknowledgment that sometimes business gets in the way of things is a strong one, and could possibly indicate that things don’t always go as they seem for NFL teams.
According to Rudolph and his agent, they are trying to figure things out with the team, but thanks to the Vikings extremely poor cap space, it seems like they won’t be finding any room to pay Rudolph for this year, at least.
While contract extensions have apparently broken down between the two, both Rudolph and the Vikings remain clear that they don’t want to part ways.
However, with the Vikings selecting a possible replacement in Rudolph, it wouldn’t be too shocking to see them begin to field trade offers for the tight end. Rudolph is on the final year os his contract and expected to earn $7.2 million in 2019.