Minnesota TE Kyle Rudolph won't take pay cut to stay with Vikings: 'I am too young for that'
Kyle Rudolph’s future in Minnesota is up in the air.
Contract talks between Rudolph — who is entering the final year of his five-year deal — and Minnesota have stalled, and the Vikings have since put the two-time Pro-Bowler on the trading block.
While he believes that a deal will get done, the veteran said there’s “no way” he would take a pay cut just to stay in Minneapolis next season.
That’s where he draws the line.
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“No I won’t, I am too young for that,” Rudolph told the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Thursday.
Rudolph recorded 634 yards on 64 receptions and had four touchdowns with the Vikings last season, his eighth with the franchise who picked him up in the second round of the 2011 NFL draft.
He is slated to make more than $7.6 million next season, which makes him the Vikings’ fifth-highest paid player. Minnesota is in desperate need of cap space, however, and had less than $750,000 as of Monday morning.
Restructuring Rudolph’s deal, or reaching a deal that sends him elsewhere, could help them out significantly.
While the 29-year-old believes that there are teams out there interested in trading for him, he still doesn’t think that will happen. Rudolph is confident a deal will get done that keeps him with the Vikings.
“I do [think teams will try], but I don’t think they want to,” Rudolph said about Minnesota’s front office being interested in trading him, via the Star Tribune. “I don’t think anyone wants to. We want it to end right with me being here.”
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