Poll: Is Kyle Rudolph the greatest Vikings tight end of all-time?
By Adam Patrick
Should Kyle Rudolph be regarded as the greatest tight end to ever play for the Minnesota Vikings?
On Tuesday, the Minnesota Vikings made the difficult, but necessary, decision to release longtime tight end Kyle Rudolph.
After 10 seasons, Rudolph’s career with the Vikings has officially come to an end. His time in the NFL likely isn’t over, but any future games won’t be played in a Minnesota uniform.
With a desperate need to create salary-cap space before the start of the new league year begins on March 17, the Vikings freed up just over $5 million in cap space by cutting Rudolph on Tuesday.
Will Kyle Rudolph be remembered as the greatest Minnesota Vikings tight end ever?
During his last two seasons in Minnesota, the veteran tight end saw his production take a bit of a dip. But he’s claimed in the recent past that this decline has more to do with how he has been utilized in the Vikings offense and not because of him potentially nearing the end of his career in the NFL.
Rudolph is leaving Minnesota as the franchise leader for touchdown catches by a tight end. He’s also walking out the door with the second-most catches and receiving yards by a tight end in Vikings history behind Steve Jordan.
Looking back at what Rudolph was able to do during his career in a purple and gold uniform, should he be regarded as the greatest Minnesota tight end of all-time?
Jordan does have the edge over him in Pro Bowl selections (he had six, while Rudolph only has two), games played, catches, and receiving yards. But Rudolph did average more catches per matchup and he made more trips to the end zone than Jordan.
Of these two, now former, Vikings tight ends, which should be given the title of the best-ever in the history of the franchise? Vote in our poll below to see how others feel about this debate.
With Rudolph now officially off the roster, the time is now for
to step up and take over as Minnesota’s No. 1 tight end for next season.
This is an outcome that many anticipated back in 2019 when the Vikings decided to use a second-round pick on Smith in that year’s NFL Draft. He showed some progression during his second season with Minnesota last year. But will he be able to handle the duties of being a No. 1 tight end in the NFL?
Time will tell, but the Vikings will need someone to step up and fill the large shoes that were worn by Rudolph for the last 10 years.