Kyle Rudolph was only released by the Vikings this week, but he isn’t wasting any time in thinking about where he wants to play next. Immediately after his release we heard he’d be excited about joining Cleveland, and now we’ve got another team on his list.
Rudolph is also interested in playing for the Patriots, a source told Doug Kyed of NESN.com. It hasn’t been reported on yet, but there are some reasons to believe the interest might be mutual. New England sniffed around a Rudolph trade a couple of years ago when the tight end was having contract issues in Minnesota, although obviously nothing materialized.
Tight end is also a big need for Bill Belichick on paper, as the team got virtually nothing from the position in 2020. Ryan Izzo led the team’s tight ends with 13 catches for 199 yards and no touchdowns. No matter what you think of Rudolph, he’d be a massive upgrade.
As a veteran who got cut, Rudolph doesn’t have to wait for the start of free agency and can sign wherever he wants immediately. He’s 31 now and coming off a down year, but has two Pro Bowls under his belt and has proven he can be a reliable option.
Please start sprinkling that 2021-2022 money around Bill
Yes! Come to the Patriots. We’ll revive your career but only at a discount price.
“It hasn’t been reported on yet, but there are some reasons to believe the interest might be mutual” …. Sounds like it’s close. This was posted last week.
Honestly the Pats wouldn’t be to terrible if they got him in, those defence guys all come back strong and they manage to get a decent QB.
They went 7-9 without all the key defensive pieces, without any upgrade to the receivers and with Cam at QB. I’m not sure how much BB rates Stidham but they could easily go get Mac Jones or a better QB in the draft or hit FA and try your luck with the likes of Alex Smith, Jameis Winston, Tyrod Taylor, Mitch Tribisky, Andy Dalton or whatever. These guys might not be the most inspiring of signings but I think all 5 are better than running it back with Cam. Just with those defenders coming back and let’s say Dalton under centre you’ll probably win 10 games easy.
So much of what the pats do is quick short throws and moving the chains. Winning allow scoring games off the back of great defence. Can on the other hand is loud, has some personality, prefers to run the ball, and isn’t the greatest quick and short thrower. Last year he had 8 TDs to 10 INTs. Not sure who or what is the best direction for the Pats in terms of QB, but almost anything is going to be better than Cam was last year. I think Jones would be a smart choice but he would be in for a huge shock going from those weapons and protection to how bad the pats offence is. I’d say Dalton on a 1 year deal could be the best option which isnt saying much
I’d go Taylor if your looking for time management and ball control. Otherwise I think alex smith would be a solid move if they believe he can be healthy and is willing to buy into that system. I think he’s probably their best fit.
Personally I’d say Dalton 1, Taylor 2, Smith 3 maybe but that’s still a huge risk think I might just have Tribisky ahead at 3 but who knows if he’s available and how much he costs.
Dalton certainly could do it, or at least hold them over. I agree with your post, but we do have to remember that the division wins will be much harder to get next year, so improving at QB (or at least improving per the Pats’ scheme) is essential. I think NE will do that-and improvement in the passing game for them easily as much about improving at receiver (or perhaps more so).
Kyle Rudolph Interested in Joining Any NFL Club That Will Pay Him to Play Football !!
Exactly.
No kidding…it’s bad enough that players like Russell Wilson are providing lists of teams he’d be “willing to play for”, but now we’ve got a guy like the washed up Kyle Rudolph telling everyone who he’d be interested in playing for? What an age of entitled, egotistical, arrogant athletes we live in these days. My god. You’ll be lucky if anyone wants to sign you, Kyle
I’ve seen maybe 20 games with Rudolph over the last two years. He’s not washed up. He still runs well, if still slowly (when was the last time he wasn’t slow?), still catches the ball well, still beats zone coverage, still beats man coverage for contested balls, and is only two years removed from catching one TD every 6.5 receptions, and three years removed from catching 64 passes as a TE1. The only reason his stats are down over the last two years is that the team switched to a scheme that ran a lot of both two-TE and RB/FB sets, while also running out two top 10 receivers both years. He’s still more than capable of catching 50-60 passes and 6-9 TD’s per year, and should end his career in three years with over 600 of the former and 60 or more of the latter.
Myself, I find entitled, egotistical, arrogant fantasy football would-be general managers to be far more tiresome than their real-world athletic counterparts.
Yet here you are spending your highly valuable time focusing on all these entitled, arrogant athletes.
You just fundamentally misinterpreted what he was saying. He was referring to whiny comment trashing Rudolph beyond what was necessary earlier.
Actually, I think toose and I were both responding to KCJ, Ak.
Who does Rudolph think is going to throw him the ball? The Patriots don’t have a quarterback.
How many coach’s in the NFL have a strong reputation for building producing, reloading, producing, reloading, producing and reloading again? I can only think of one guy.
Ryan Izzo didn’t produce too well last year. Either Bill’s magic wand had a down year or pick 199 wasn’t such a “system” guy after all.
Just my own take::
Gronk left in 2019 just prior to season, long after the 2019 draft or free agency market so he could not secure much TE help. So, going into 2020 BB had $26 mill in dead money due to selling out 2015 – 2019, which worked out (3 SB appearances and 2 titles). But again, zero cash in 2020 so forget FA market. Good coach’s rarely play rookies, especially with no rookie camp and a limited preseason so his two TE’s that he drafted could not help much.
I don’t blame Brady for leaving under these circumstances. But then it got worse with 8 opt-outs, some of which were cornerstone pieces at S, MLB & OL. Also, the starting TE opted out as well.
No wonder they went 7-9 (could have easily won two more games). As a result of biting the bullet in 2020, he will have $80 mill to spend after he dumps Cannon and trades Gilmore. My bet is that BB is primed to correct ALL of his issues from 2020.
Coach – you’re forgetting NE feasted on a putrid AFCE for 20 years; don’t look now but they have been passed; no left in the dust by Buffalo & Miami. My guess is they’re closer to 4th than 1st or 2nd for several years. Bill should retire.
I think that is true, but your statement takes the position that they were never really that great. I hear this with talking heads constantly. So why were they able to perform so well post season? they went to 9 SB’s and won 6 times.