The Minnesota Vikings might just be involved in the next big trade of the offseason.
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Vikings have been getting calls about three key veterans: Tight end Kyle Rudolph, cornerback Xavier Rhodes, and cornerback Trae Waynes.
But while the Vikings are “open” to the possibility of trading those three, they are not actively shopping them around the league.
Rudolph is in the final year of his contract, with a salary of $7.275 million. The Vikings just drafted Irv Smith Jr. in the second round, which further fueled speculation that Rudolph’s days in Minnesota might be numbered. Meanwhile, Waynes is on his fifth-year option of $9.069 million.
Finally, Rhodes is only heading into the second year of a five-year extension he signed in 2017 and will earn $10.4 million fully guaranteed in 2019. If the Vikings trade him, it would trigger a $7.2 million cap charge.
Minnesota doesn’t have much cap space to work with at the moment, which is a big reason why they are open to parting ways with those three high-earning veterans.
The Vikings have invested heavily in cornerbacks over the past few years and still have Mike Hughes (last year’s first-round pick) and Mackensie Alexander (a former second-rounder) on the roster if they part with either Rhodes and Waynes.
They also still have nine picks left to work with during the final few rounds of the draft, so they have the ability to add more depth in the secondary to prepare for the possible departure of their veteran corners.
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