Kyle Rudolph hired as analyst for Big Ten football by NBC Sports

It’s been two years since tight end Kyle Rudolph parted ways with the Minnesota Vikings, as he played for the New York Giants in 2021 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022 after spending his first ten NFL seasons in purple. While he hasn’t officially announced that his playing days are over, a recent development certainly seems to point in that direction.

It was announced a few days ago that Rudolph had been hired by NBC Sports to serve as an analyst for Big Ten football games on the network this year. Rudolph has gotten his feet wet in the commentary game by serving as an analyst for USFL games this past season.

In Rudolph’s ten seasons in Minnesota, he caught 453 passes for 4,488 yards and 48 touchdowns, serving as one of the team’s primary red zone threats even in the presence of receiving talents like Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. He caught just 26 passes in his season with the Giants and had just three receptions last season.

Rudolph was, reportedly, spotted around some of the Vikings’ offseason activities a while back. I’m wondering if there isn’t potentially going to be a one-day contract for Rudolph as we get closer to the start of Training Camp here so that he can, officially, retire as a member of the team he made his mark with for a decade. It’s certainly something that would be deserved if he decided to go in that direction.