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Kyle Rudolph

Injury Updates: Monday

September 22nd, 2014 at 4:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Teams around the league today are assessing the damage from Week 3’s games, and in some cases the news is sobering. At Pro Football Rumors, we don’t cover every injury, but we’ll keep tabs on the major ones that could result in a player heading to injured reserve or in his team adding a replacement via free agency or trade. Here are the latest Monday updates on those major injuries from this week:

  • According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Panthers running back Mike Tolbert has sustained a hairline fracture in his leg, while Jonathan Stewart has a sprained knee. Tolbert, who also has a bone bruise, won’t require surgery but may miss more than a month, a source tells Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). With DeAngelo Williams also banged up, expect the Panthers to add some help for the backfield this week.

Earlier updates:

  • Like Jason Kelce, whose injury is noted below, Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph will undergo surgery for a sports hernia, reports Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter links). Rudolph is expected to miss about six weeks, which might make him a candidate for the injured reserve list with the designation to return.
  • Saints center Jonathan Goodwin has been diagnosed with a high ankle sprain, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). While an MRI today will determine the severity of the injury, the team anticipates that Goodwin will miss time.
  • As first reported by Howard Eskin of 94WIP Radio in Philadelphia (Twitter link), Eagles center Jason Kelce has a sports hernia injury and is expected to require surgery, writes Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. It’s the latest blow for an increasingly depleted Eagles line, which is already missing Evan Mathis and Allen Barbre and may require an outside addition, as both Eskin and McLane point out. McLane reports that Kelce could end up missing about two months.
  • Lions head coach Jim Caldwell confirmed today that linebacker Stephen Tulloch will be placed on injured reserve after sustaining a torn ACL (Twitter link). As if the season-ending injury wasn’t bad enough, it happened while Tulloch was celebrating a sack of Aaron Rodgers by performing his version of the “Discount Double Check” act.
  • Bills wideout and special-teams ace Marcus Easley has suffered a sprained MCL, and will likely be sidelined for four to six weeks, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. Buffalo has yet to use its IR-DTR spot, but Easley may not be a candidate for that designation, since he could return within a month.
  • We rounded up some news on Steelers injuries earlier this morning.

Injury Updates: Sunday

September 21st, 2014 at 8:43pm CST by Rob DiRe

The NFL is almost through another week of football, and the injuries are piling up yet again. An unfortunate reality of the league is that no team will leave healthy from week to week.

Zach Links and Luke Adams have already discussed some of the bigger names to go down. Matt Cassel‘s foot injury paved the way for Vikings‘ first-round pick Teddy Bridgewater‘s NFL debut. Dennis Pitta left the Ravens‘ win with a dislocated hip, and Chargers‘ tailback Danny Woodhead could miss the rest of the season with a high ankle sprain and fractured fibula.

Here are some other injury notes from around the NFL:

North Notes: Green, Browns, Ike, Rudolph

July 30th, 2014 at 10:50am CST by Luke Adams

As August approaches, and preseason NFL action nears, let’s round up the latest from out of the league’s two North divisions….

  • In the wake of Patrick Peterson‘s new five-year contract extension, Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer explores what sort of effect – if any – Peterson’s deal will have on contract talks for fellow 2011 first-rounder A.J. Green. As Dehner writes, the Bengals wideout will likely be less affected by Peterson’s extension than by contracts potentially signed by receivers Demaryius Thomas and Dez Bryant, who are both eligible for free agency in 2015.
  • Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com believes that a “perfect storm of events,” including Roger Goodell being under fire for his lenient suspension of Ray Rice, could result in Josh Gordon‘s potential one-year suspension being reduced.
  • Former UAB offensive tackle Kaycee Ike, who was signed and then waived by the Steelers after he went undrafted this year, is working out for the Browns today, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter).
  • Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap provides the full breakdown of Kyle Rudolph‘s new contract with the Vikings. The deal includes annual per-game roster bonuses of up to $250K and workout bonuses worth $100K, starting in 2015.

Vikings Sign Kyle Rudolph To Extension

July 27th, 2014 at 9:30pm CST by Ben Levine

The Vikings and tight end Kyle Rudolph have agreed to a five-year, $36.5MM deal, reports Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer (via Twitter). The player will receive a practical guarantee of $19.4MM and his new money average is $7.3MM, according to a tweet from NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. ESPN.com’s Ben Goessling tweets that Rudolph will receive a $6.5MM signing bonus and a $960K guaranteed salary for 2014, with the remaining $12MM being guaranteed for injury only. Goessling also tweets that the deal could be worth as much as $40MM.

Rudolph discussed his new extension on Vikings.com:

Kyle Rudolph“I’m extremely excited to get this extension completed and continue my career with the Minnesota Vikings. I’ve said all along I wanted to stay in Minnesota. I love the fans, the community and, most importantly, I’m excited about where this team is going. I’m looking forward to the 2014 season and helping this organization reach our ultimate goal.”

General manager Rick Spielman also addressed the new contract:

“I’m very excited to get this extension done with Kyle. We drafted him, he’s done a tremendous job since he’s been here. Our whole focus on moving forward in this organization is to draft our players, develop them and keep them here. He’s one of our young guys who is going to be a building block as we go forward in the future and just very excited to get this behind us so we can look forward to seeing him produce over the coming years.”

Rudolph, a former second-round pick, battled through a foot injury last season and only appeared in eight games, but he was on track to surpass his previous career-highs. The Notre Dame product ultimately caught 30 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns. As PFR’s Dallas Robison noted in our Extension Candidate series, Rudolph ranked among the top-15 tight ends in both 2011 and 2012, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). However, his DYAR (a Football Outsiders metric that ranks players based on only receiving) placed 43rd, 28th, and 27th over his three-year career.

As Brian McIntyre notes (on Twitter), the tight end was set to make a bit over $956K next season. Now, Rudolph will be among the highest-paid tight ends in the league. According to OverTheCap.com, the total value of the contract ranks fifth (between Vernon Davis and Antonio Gates) while the estimated $7.4MM guaranteed would rank 12th (between Tyler Eifert and Jermaine Gresham).

NFC Notes: Garrett, Mathis, Rudolph, Packers

July 24th, 2014 at 12:24pm CST by Luke Adams

After three straight 8-8 finishes, the 2014 season has been dubbed a make-or-break season for Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett by several NFL pundits, but owner Jerry Jones doesn’t think that’s necessarily the case. At least, that’s what he’s saying publicly (link via Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com).

“In terms of the record of this team, this is not a make-or-break situation for Jason,” Jones said. “Members of this staff, we’ve got a job to do. We obviously are gonna see what we’re doing this afternoon and what we’re doing the next day and the next day and the next day. … We’ve put a lot of effort in training as a franchise into Jason Garrett, and I want to take advantage of that.”

Let’s round up a few more items from around the NFC….

  • Although Eagles offensive lineman Evan Mathis wants a new contract and was considering a holdout, he ultimately decided to report to camp, determining that was the best course of action, according to Tim McManus of PhillyMag.com (Twitter links).
  • As Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets, Vikings GM Rick Spielman expressed interest again today in locking up tight end Kyle Rudolph to a contract extension. Rudolph has indicated multiple times that he’d like to remain in Minnesota long term, so there seems to be mutual interest in working something out.
  • Speaking to reporters today, Packers GM Ted Thompson said his team’s three goals heading into the offseason were to re-sign as many of their own players as possible, selectively add players from other teams, and draft effectively (Twitter link via Jason Wilde of ESPNWisconsin.com). In Thompson’s view, Green Bay was able to achieve those goals.
  • Panthers offensive lineman Edmund Kugbila will undergo back surgery and will miss the season, GM Dave Gettleman announced today (Twitter link).

NFC North Notes: Packers, Bears, Vikings

July 19th, 2014 at 10:27am CST by Matt Feminis

The injury-related retirement of Packers running back Jonathan Franklin means there are third-down snaps to be had, writes ESPN Wisconsin’s Jason Wilde in a position preview. If/when Eddie Lacy is off the field, the leading candidates are DuJuan Harris — if he can show improvement in blitz pickup — and “old reliable” fullback John Kuhn.

Here’s a few more NFC North links:

  • The Packers’ run defense fell off significantly last season, and the team made a concerted effort to get younger and more athletic along the defensive line. In fact, 28-year-old B.J. Raji is now the “old man of the line.” In the spotlight, however, is 2013 first-rounder Datone Jones, whom Press-Gazette’s Pete Dougherty calls a “critical player for meaningful improvement.” Jones sustained a sprained ankle in the preseason opener and didn’t get healthy until the end of the season. The team expects Jones to step up his game this season, as he will have significantly more responsibility than his niche role as an inside, sub-package rusher last year.
  • The Bears, who were even worse than the Packers against the run last season, also expect to have a better defensive front in 2014. A healthy Jay Ratliff is one of the reasons why. The veteran defensive tackle is 33, but is 100 percent healthy now, according to ESPN’s Michael C. Wright, who shared a text message he received from a Bears employee: “It helps that we signed Rat. He’s a soldier if healthy!” If that’s the case, it will be a coup for the Bears, who scooped up Ratliff in November for a late-season look-see after he was released by the Cowboys. Encouraged by Ratliff’s health, the Bears retained him on a team-friendly, two-year deal, expecting him to provide disruption from the three-technique.
  • Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times identified the Bears’ 10 most important players, including defensive lineman Lamarr Houston, whom the Bears see as a “star in the making.”
  • Bears head coach Marc Trestman sat down with the Chicago Tribune’s Dan Wiederer for an extensive one-on-one interview in which Trestman touched on a variety of topics, including Jay Cutler, Jared Allen, locker-room culture and leadership, among other things.
  • Vikings fourth-year tight end Kyle Rudolph, who shed 15 pounds this offseason, believes he’s an improved route runner thanks to new offensive coordinator Norv Turner, writes ESPN’s Ben Goessling.

NFC North Notes: Bell, Raji, Rudolph

July 8th, 2014 at 2:57pm CST by Luke Adams

After rounding up several items out of the NFC East this morning, we’ll turn our attention to the North this afternoon. Here’s the latest:

  • Running back Joique Bell, who received a three-year contract extension from the Lions this offseason, is coming off a knee injury and will report to training camp a few days before the rest of his teammates in order to test out his body, writes Justin Rogers of MLive.com.
  • After reportedly turning down a longer and larger contract extension a year ago, B.J. Raji settled for a one-year, $4MM deal with the Packers this offseason. However, if his return to his old nose tackle position is successful, he could parlay that into a significant raise when he hits free agency again in 2015. Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com has the details.
  • Kyle Rudolph, an extension candidate for the Vikings, has been studying tape of tight ends Norv Turner has worked with in the past, and is looking for a big year under the team’s new offensive coordinator, as he tells Tom Pelissero of USA Today.
  • Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel catches up with former Packers second-rounder Brian Brohm, who is now a backup quarterback for the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Extension Candidate: Kyle Rudolph

June 15th, 2014 at 5:10pm CST by Dallas Robinson

New Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner is known as something of a “tight end whisperer” — his ability to induce production out of the position, with players like Antonio Gates and Jordan Cameron, is virtually unparallelled in the NFL. His newest protégé is Kyle Rudolph, who is entering not only his fourth season in the league but the final year of his rookie contract, which is set to pay him a base salary of nearly $1MM. The Vikings, then, in something of a buy-low opportunity, may look to extend the 24-year-old before 2014, when his talents, combined with Turner’s instruction, could lead to a monster season, allowing Rudolph to price himself out of Minnesota’s range.

Rudolph, a 2011 second-round pick, has accrued decidedly mediocre statistics over the course of his career — he averaged 39 receptions for 371 yards and six toNFL: Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lionsuchdowns over his first two seasons; he nearly matched those numbers in 2013, however, despite starting only eight games due to a fractured foot. Advanced metrics paint a more favorable picture of Rudolph, as he graded as a top-15 tight end in both 2011 and 2012, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). DYAR, a Football Outsiders statistic that measures only receiving ability (omitting blocking) wasn’t quite as impressed — over the past three seasons, Rudolph ranked 43rd, 28th, and 27th. Of course, the Vikings haven’t had the most capable quarterbacks delivering the ball over that span, as Rudolph caught passes from the likes of Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel, and a near-retirement Donovan McNabb.

For his part, Rudolph has expressed his desire to remain with the Vikings. “…[M]y financial situation is completely in their hands right now,” Rudolph told Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “I’ve got one year left on my deal here and I’m extremely excited for the changes that have been made around here (under first-year coach Mike Zimmer)…All I can worry about is going out and being successful. The contract will take care of itself. … I’d be more than happy to stay here for a long time.” However, as of mid-April, the Vikings had not approached him about an extension, according to Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Tight end contracts can be more difficult to evaluate than other positions because of the vast differences between players’ usage and roles. Having said that, it’s probably safe to disregard any potential deal regarding Jimmy Graham, as well as the 2012 extension signed by Rob Gronkowski, as the two are considered to be in completely different stratosphere. Also complicating matters is Rudolph’s youth — at 24, he is far younger than were most tight ends who received extensions.

Martellus Bennett of the Bears and Dennis Pitta of the Ravens offer the two best options when looking for comparable players and a potential contract. Bennett, who was 25 when he signed as a free agent with Chicago, had put up analogous numbers to Rudolph, but was a free agent — he received $20.4MM over five years, with $5.215MM in guarantees. Pitta has better statistics to Rudolph, but, like the Viking, was coming off an injury. He re-signed with Baltimore in late February, so while the deal was nominally an extension, he was effectively a free agent, as free agency began less than two weeks later. Pitta’s contract, signed when he was four years older than Rudolph, was worth $32MM over five years, $16MM of which was guaranteed.

I would set Bennett’s contract as the floor, and Pitta’s deal the ceiling, when discussing a Rudolph extension. A deal worth four to five years, with an AAV of $5.5MM, and guarantees in the $10-12MM range wouldn’t be out of the question. However, the Vikings need to factor in the risk of a huge 2014 season by Rudolph into their valuation; if he succeeds on the level of other Turner-coached tight ends, Rudolph could angle for an even larger contract. So perhaps the team, in the interest of getting a deal done now, offers a tad more in either AAV or guarantees in order to stave off a potential free agent negotiation.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NFC North Notes: Rudolph, Greenway, Palmer

June 5th, 2014 at 6:49pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest out of the NFC North..

  • Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph is ready to talk extension with the team, writes Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. Rudolph, who signed a four-year, $3.9 million rookie contract in 2011, would become a free agent after next season if no extension can be reached by then. He missed the final eight games of 2013 because of a fractured left foot but he’s totally healthy heading into the 2014 campaign.
  • The end might be near for Chad Greenway‘s time with the Vikings, but the team still values him, writes Dave Campbell of the Associated Press. The veteran linebacker restructured his contract this offseason, taking a $1MM pay cut in exchange for a fully guaranteed $5.5MM salary. Greenway will be a free agent after the season and if he doesn’t get back to his Pro Bowl form, he could wind up elsewhere.
  • It may or may not be related to the Bears‘ signing of Jimmy Clausen, but Jordan Palmer didn’t participate in Tuesday’s OTAs, tweets Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times. Jerron Johnson ran the No. 2 offense for the Bears in his stead.
  • The Bears are high on Clausen’s intelligence and mechanics, tweets Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com. They also believe that the Notre Dame product showed mental toughness by dealing with his struggles in Carolina and the drafting of Cam Newton.

North Notes: Vikings, Browns, Bears, Lions

April 15th, 2014 at 1:48pm CST by Luke Adams

After working out for the Vikings on the weekend, Teddy Bridgewater visited with the team yesterday and is still there today, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), who notes that the Vikes are taking an extended look at the Louisville signal-caller. Bridgewater could very well still be on the board when Minnesota picks at No. 8.

Here’s more from out of the NFC and AFC North divisions:

  • The Vikings and tight end Kyle Rudolph are said to have mutual interest in working out a long-term agreement to keep Rudolph in Minnesota, but the team has yet to approach the 24-year-old about an extension yet, as he tells Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune.
  • Johnny Manziel‘s previously reported workout for the Browns is scheduled for this weekend, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com.
  • After meeting with the Texans today, Blake Bortles will have finished with his pre-draft visits and workouts, with the exception of a visit with the Browns next week, according to Caplan (Twitter links).
  • Alabama safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix will meet with the Bears this week, tweets Rapoport, adding that Clinton-Dix has also met with the Panthers and Falcons, among other teams. The Bears, meanwhile, have their eye on safeties, having already hosted Calvin Pryor.
  • Rapoport passes along word of a couple more pre-draft visits, tweeting that Michigan State cornerback Darqueze Dennard visited the Bengals today and yesterday, while Minnesota safety Brock Vereen visited the Steelers last week. The brother of Patriots running back Shane Vereen will also meet with the Vikings this week, says Rapoport (via Twitter).
  • The Lions announced pre-draft visits for Virginia Tech cornerback Kyle Fuller, Washington tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins, and Boston College kicker Nate Freese, as Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com details.
  • Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune takes a look at Notre Dame defensive tackle Louis Nix, who recently visited the Bears.
  • Matthew Mulligan‘s one-year deal with the Bears is a minimum salary benefit contract, says Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Chris Pressley‘s one-year pact with the Browns falls into the same category, Wilson adds (via Twitter).
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