The NFL has been experiencing a tight end deficiency in recent years. The amount of quality, league-ready tight ends have taken a dive in the last five years, due mostly to the spread offenses implemented in college offenses. These schemes essentially turn the position into a big wide receiver, making complete tight ends harder and harder to find.
For the Seattle Seahawks, finding a healthy tight end has been the biggest challenge. Starter Will Dissly is out for the year with a torn Achilles, and depth at the position is severely lacking. Here's where Minnesota Viking Kyle Rudolph comes in. The Seahawks couldn't ask for a better trade target to help them make a run at the NFC West.
One of many reasons the Seahawks should pursue Rudolph is his availability. The Vikings drafted Irv Smith Jr. in the second round of the 2019 draft to push Rudolph for snaps. It's definitely worked, as Smith gets a bigger snap share each and every week. To be fair, this doesn't mean that Rudolph is coming off of the field all that often.
Minnesota simply no longer needs Rudolph. Smith is a better receiver, and third-string tight end Jack Conklin is a decent blocker. All of this means that the Vikings would probably jump at the opportunity to move Rudolph for a late-round pick.
Seattle is pretty weak at the tight end position. They currently roster the duo of Luke Willson and Jacob Hollister. The two have combined for eight catches for 72 yards. While it's true that Willson has only started for one game, he registered exactly zero catches in that game. It's clear that an upgrade is needed.
Rudolph can come in and provide a reliable, albeit unspectacular presence. He has topped 500 yards in each of the last three seasons. Rudolph has also had four or more scores in all of those years, topping out at eight in the 2017 season.
It is worth noting that Rudolph provides good run blocking, a trait which the Seahawks value highly. Seattle calls run plays 47 percent of the time, fourth-most in the league. Both Willson and Hollister are worse blockers than Rudolph, so an upgrade in this hugely overlooked area would be huge for the Seahawks.
Trading for Rudolph wouldn't be totally free, but it would be cheap. Minnesota is almost certainly open to dealing him, something that always helps these negotiations. A fair price would be a sixth-round pick, a price Seattle should be more than willing to pay.
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