According to FanSided’s Matt Lombardo, the New York Giants are planning on releasing tight end Kyle Rudolph as part of their cost-cutting measures to save money under the 2022 salary cap. That means Rudolph, a veteran tight end, is going to be a free agent immediately—able to sign with any team he chooses.
The Kansas City Chiefs should not be an option.
On the surface, the idea of a player like Rudolph or a similar veteran should actually sound good for the Chiefs. In fact, when news broke of the Giants’ plans for Rudolph, fans were quick to make some potential connection between K.C. and the tight end.
It makes sense in some ways. As Travis Kelce gets older, he’s going to need to be able to sit for longer stretches to maintain his effectiveness over the course of a long season. While a team can hope younger players step up, the truth is that the Chiefs have a wide-open window for a real dynasty now. A proven player like Rudolph could come in and dependably catch a couple of passes each game from Patrick Mahomes.
Signing a veteran tight end doesn’t make sense for what the Chiefs need most long-term.
Believing the Chiefs should avoid Rudolph is no slight to the tight end—not in any way. He’s had a very solid 11-year career that featured two Pro Bowl seasons. It wouldn’t surprise anyone to see him immortalized in whatever sort of team Hall of Fame the Minnesota Vikings have in their home stadium.
The advice to avoid Rudolph or other such vets at this point is based on the fact that the Chiefs need to figure out the future of the position as quickly as they can while they also have the security of Kelce around. With Kelce in tow, the Chiefs still employ the best tight end in the business, but it’s also true that age and/or injury can change that picture in a hurry. That means any sort of runway during the season should be used to test how other players can fly.
Consider that the Chiefs already have two young tight ends with the potential to make a difference. Noah Gray was the fifth-round pick in 2021 out of Duke known for his tremendous hands and solid route-running. He had work to do as a blocker along with the typical growth curve in all areas when a player jumps to the pros, but consider that the Chiefs selected him one round before they did Trey Smith. There’s something there that drew Veach to him.
In addition, Jody Fortson has gone from a longshot project out of Valdosta State to a very real end zone threat in the Chiefs offense. Unfortunately for Fortson, he was injured early in the 2021 season and remained out for the duration, but even those few chances in the first quarter of the year were enough to show he can be a dynamic big target when things get crowded in the end zone.
If the Chiefs sign someone like Rudolph, they are removing the margin around Kelce within which they could typically experiment with the likes of Gray and Fortson—not to mention the many other young tight ends on the roster like Mark Vital or Matt Bushman, or Nakia Griffin-Stewart. While it might help in the very short term, it’s too great of a hit on the long-term for the Chiefs to let someone get in the way. Instead, they need to allow competition between the youngsters to sort things out behind Kelce knowing that he won’t be around forever and those young options might need to turn into something more.