The case for the Minnesota Vikings to trade tight end Kyle Rudolph
By Adam Patrick
The Vikings have no first round pick:
In a year where Minnesota has some needs to upgrade or restart in a few pretty prominent position groups (running back and offensive line), they inconveniently happen to be without a first round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. However, they do have multiple draft selections in both the third and fourth rounds this year.
If the Vikings were to call around to other teams this offseason in search of landing a 2017 first round pick, would a package including Rudolph and one or two of their extra draft picks be enough to convince a team to part ways with their first round selection?
Two teams have multiple first round picks in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Browns and the Tennessee Titans.
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This year, the Browns have 12 draft selections and the Titans have seven. So one could assume that Cleveland would be more willing than Tennessee to part ways with one of their first round picks.
Plus the Browns’ best tight end is a 31-year-old Gary Barnidge who would be much better suited as a team’s second tight end. At 27-years-old, could Rudolph be a more enticing option at tight end for Cleveland than Barnidge?
With over $105 million in cap space this year as well, Rudolph’s current contract would not be an issue for the Browns either in case anyone was curious.