Trade Kyle Rudolph to the New England Patriots
Vikings get:
- 2019 fourth-round pick (135th overall)
Patriots get:
- Kyle Rudolph – TE
- 2019 seventh-round pick (249th overall)
If there is another general manager in the NFL that enjoys making a trade as much as Minnesota’s Rick Spielman, it would be New England’s Bill Belichick. Not including the deals they have made during the draft, the Patriots have agreed to seven different trades since the start of the 2018 offseason.
With the news of Rob Gronkowski retiring this year, New England is now in need of finding someone to be their No. 1 tight end in 2019. The Patriots could fill this need with one of their selections in this year’s NFL Draft or they might possibly look into acquiring a veteran tight end instead.
Trading for Kyle Rudolph just seems like a move New England would make. Rudolph is in the final year of his current contract, he can still be a solid contributor (especially for Tom Brady in the red zone), and he hasn’t missed a game due to injury since 2014.
The Patriots are currently sitting with 12 selections in the upcoming NFL Draft, so they have a ton of ammo to make a trade. They have three picks in the third round and one in the fourth this year.
New England probably won’t be willing to part with one of their third-round selections in exchange for Rudolph. But the Vikings should be able to convince the Patriots to send over their lone fourth-round pick to acquire the tight end since the selection is essentially a fifth-round pick with how late in the round it is.
Minnesota has already been showing interest in a number of tight ends from the 2019 draft class, so they’re clearly thinking about replacing Rudolph very soon. By getting the veteran tight end off the books in 2019, the Vikings would increase their cap space by more than $7.6 million.