After spending a decade in purple, the Minnesota Vikings released Kyle Rudolph in March of 2021. Even though it hurt to let go of a beloved veteran presence in the locker room, the Vikings’ tight end group was in good hands. Irv Smith Jr. was primed for a breakout season, and Tyler Conklin was a solid backup. Needless to say, things didn’t go according to plan last year. Smith suffered a torn meniscus, which sidelined him for the entire 2021 campaign. Thankfully, Conklin performed admirably in his place.
The Vikings find themselves in a similar situation in 2022. Smith is still due for a breakout season, and everything seems to be kumbaya on the surface. Kevin O’Connell‘s presence is lifting the spirits that Mike Zimmer shattered towards the end of his tenure. Still, there is one critical outlier that is somewhat problematic – the lack of depth at the tight end position. Conklin signed a well-deserved three-year, $20 million contract with the New York Jets this offseason.
While the Vikings signed former Los Angeles Rams tight end Johnny Mundt this offseason, Conklin’s departure leaves a talent gap that was not present in 2021. Smith has already missed 20 out of the 49 regular-season games, and he has injury concerns dating back to his time at Alabama. He only played nine games in his sophomore season. That makes Minnesota’s lack of depth at tight end all the more worrisome.
Turns out the Vikings may feel the same way. Jeremy Fowler reported that both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota have interest in signing Rudolph, adding that a reunion with the Vikings is not off the table.
Bringing back Rudolph would not only fill the void Conklin left, it would provide injury assurance should Smith be unavailable for an extended period. Rudolph has built a reputation over the years as an iron man who rarely misses games. He held the record for most consecutive starts by any Vikings player, starting 93 straight games before he finally missed a game against Tampa Bay in 2020.
Not only that, but Rudolph needs the Vikings just as much as Minnesota needs him. Rudolph’s year with the New York Giants was one of the least productive of his career. He ended the season with 257 yards on 26 receptions and only caught one touchdown pass. That lack of production hurt his value, but Minnesota may be the best place for him to boost his stock. The Vikings have a ton of weapons on offense and a coach who knows how to create mismatches for his receivers. With all the attention on Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, and Dalvin Cook, Rudolph would have an easier time getting separation.
Another reason Rudolph needs the Vikings is that there are still a fair amount of quality veteran tight ends available. Nothing is stopping the Vikings from signing guys like Eric Ebron, Jared Cook, or Jesse James. It would be in his best interest to sign with a team as soon as possible, given that there aren’t many spots left for a veteran like Rudolph.
Perhaps the most important reason Rudolph needs the Vikings is that Minnesota is home. Rudolph split time between New Jersey and the Twin Cities last season, remaining a fixture of the community in Minnesota. When Paul Allen asked him on a June 21 episode of KFAN’s 92Noon show whether or not he’d like to re-sign with the Vikings, he made his stance abundantly clear.
Absolutely, I said it when I left here, that Minnesota’s always home. It’s kind of been brought to my attention more when we came back from New Jersey after last season. Whether it’s at the grocery store in Wayzata or at a Timberwolves game… [or] WWE Smackdown this Friday. “Come Home, Kyle” chants erupted in the middle of one of the matches.
Being around town after being gone and the amount of people saying, ‘We wished you were still here…’ Just the amount of love myself and my family have gotten from people around the state, it’s really opened our eyes to how admired we are by Vikings fans and how much love they’ve showed us for the last decade of our lives here.
Certainly, for me, there’s still one thing left to do here, and that’s win a championship in Minnesota. Obviously, I would love to have another opportunity to get a crack at it. I talked about being calculated in my next decision. I’ve never won a Super Bowl. I’d love to hoist a Lombardi at some point in my career. I do believe this Vikings team has a chance to do that, and certainly, I would be open to that.
This is home. I’m entrenched in the community, we’re around town, and I just know what a championship would mean for this state and for that organization. That was kind of the big regret when my time wrapped up with the Minnesota Vikings.
Last year, Rudolph and the Vikings seemed content to part ways, but this season they need each other.
