6 current Vikings who might not be on the roster in 2021

Kyle Rudolph – TE

Kyle Rudolph has been with the Vikings since 2011 when the team used a second-round pick to draft him. Rudolph has had some productive seasons during his tenure with Minnesota, but he has never been able to develop into a game-changing tight end that guys like Travis Kelce and George Kittle currently are.

This year, the Vikings veteran tight end is on pace to finish with just 41 catches for 486 yards and one touchdown. Those numbers aren’t impressive enough for someone like Rudolph who has the fourth-highest cap hit of any NFL tight end in 2021.

After this season, Rudolph still has three years left on his current deal with Minnesota. It would probably be smarter for the Vikings to let him go in 2022 instead of 2021 since they would be left with a lower amount of dead money.

But Minnesota might have to make some tough roster decisions next year due to the salary cap possibly decreasing and Rudolph could be one of the guys the team chooses to cut in order to create more cap space.

The Vikings can either cut the veteran tight end in 2021 and free up $5.1 million in cap space or they can keep him on the roster for another season with him taking up $9.45 million of their salary cap.