New England Patriots
After it was recently revealed that the Patriots are going to sign free agent tight end Ben Watson, most assumed that this eliminated them from possibly acquiring Rudolph in a trade with the Vikings.
However, New England is one of the teams that NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport mentioned in his recent report that may have interest in trading for the Minnesota tight end. So maybe the Patriots could actually end up with both Rudolph and Watson on their roster in 2019.
New England no longer has the luxury of Rob Gronkowski being a part of their offense. Gronkowski announced his retirement earlier this offseason and now the Patriots have to find a new No. 1 tight end for the first time since 2009.
New England has been known to take a chance on experienced veterans during the later part of their careers (Chad Johnson, Junior Seau, Corey Dillon), so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see them end up with Rudolph on their 2019 roster.
Rapoport may believe that the Patriots are interested in the Vikings tight end based on what he’s heard from his sources. But it’s still a little hard to imagine that New England would be willing to give up very much in a trade for Rudolph after signing Watson.