When the Minnesota Vikings drafted Alabama tight end Irv Smith a few weeks ago in the 2019 NFL Draft, many people figured it was the writing on the wall for when Minnesota would jettison longtime starting tight end Kyle Rudolph. Even though two tight end sets are in vogue in the NFL, surely picking a tight end that high meant the Vikes wanted to move on from Rudolph.
That wasn’t necessarily the case, as Minnesota has been trying to sign Rudolph to a new contract, but those talks broke down this week.