10-29-2020, 11:33 AM
Quote: @MarkSP18 said:
All part of the we're so close delusion that has driven operations the last few years.@Carl Knowles said:
@MarkSP18 said: It was a bad extension and they'll eventually eat some dead cap space for the mediocre production they get from Rudolph.
Nothing mediocre about his ability to catch. Did you not see his one handed grab against the Saints to give the Vikings a playoff win in the back off the end zone when he was fully covered?
It's not Rudy's fault he doesn't get the targets he once did.
I'm not sure about the dead cap money comment either,... because I think Rudy has a few teams interested in him if the Vikings want to unload him for a late round pick.
What is his trade value? I think it will be based on supply and demand. In a perfect world, Spielman will work a couple of team for the best draft pick right up to the trade deadline. That is the thing that blinds people. Rudy does have good hands and is capable of pulling off one amazing catch a year.
But just like with defenders getting interceptions (Harris comes to mind), people get enamored with the one thing and do not see the whole package.
If the Vikings trade him now or after the season, they will take a 4.35 mil dead money cap hit. They would save 5.1 mil though.
They prorated his signing bonus over 5 seasons (1.45 mil per season) and he would have 3 seasons left on his deal.
He wont see the entire deal as he turns 31 in a couple of weeks.
The fact is that there are no other teams in the NFL that drafted TE in the 2nd round and then IMMEDIATELY gave their current TE a sizable extension.
Only one team employed this strategy.
They used to be very savvy about frontloading and preserving cap space for contracts but they took to paying big for every vet and overvaluing in some cases (Barr, Rudy).
They also started doing restructures that hand out big dough with onerous cap implications in order to make room to extend or sign other guys, like guy at a feast who is stuffed full and says lemme put my finger down my throat and barf on the floor so I can have me another plateful.