4 most overpaid Vikings players heading into the 2020 season
By Adam Patrick
2. Kyle Rudolph – TE
2020 Cap Hit: $9.45 million
Everything seemed to be pointing to the Vikings parting ways with Kyle Rudolph during the 2019 offseason. They even used a second-round draft pick on former Alabama tight end Irv Smith Jr. to be Rudolph’s eventual replacement.
But instead of trading or cutting the veteran tight end last year, Minnesota decided they had an even better idea. The Vikings decided to overpay Rudolph even more with a brand new contract extension.
While the extension lowered his cap hit last season to $3.55 million, it’s almost $6 million higher for 2020. Currently, Rudolph is scheduled to have the third-highest cap hit of any tight end in the NFL next season behind Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz.
Is Rudolph currently the third-best tight end in the league? Absolutely not. Kelce and Ertz each hauled in over 85 passes last season and the Minnesota tight end didn’t even crack 40 catches in 2019.
Somehow Rudolph convinced the Vikings to give him an extension last year and it’s one of the dumbest decisions the team has made in the recent past.