Das Forum » The Minnesota Vikings weren’t willing to part with Kyle Rudolph

EAGAN http://www.packersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-darnell-savage-jr.-jersey , Minn. (AP) — and the ninth-year tight end sure didn’t want to leave.No matter the tricky nature of making the numbers work for both sides, the mutual desire to keep the team’s longest-tenured offensive player in place was the driving force behind a four-year contract extension Rudolph signed on Tuesday with the Vikings .“I’ve bumped into a few people in the last week or so, and that was probably the number one question I got: ‘How’s Kyle? Is Kyle going to be here?’ And every one of them, when I said, ‘Yeah,’ were all glad,” coach Mike Zimmer said. “That’s the kind of guy he is in the community and how he represents the Vikings.”Rudolph had entered the final year of his current deal with a $7.25 million non-guaranteed salary, putting him at risk for being released after the Vikings drafted Alabama tight end Irv Smith Jr. in the second round.Making a rookie the primary player at that position would have been a big burden on Smith, though. As last season proved, the Vikings need to give quarterback Kirk Cousins as many options in the passing game as possible after wide receivers Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs drew heavy attention during the second half of the schedule.“I want to be a part of the first team to win a championship here Elgton Jenkins Jersey ,” Rudolph said. “We got a taste of it two years ago. When we got close, you had a feel for how important that would be to this state, to this community, to this fan base.”The exhaustive work by Vikings executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski and Rudolph’s agents, Brian Murphy and Camron Hahn, produced a contract with a value of $36 million in new money and a little more than $16 million in total guarantees. After a conversion of base salary to signing bonus that reduced Rudolph’s cap hit, he’ll make a fully guaranteed $9 million this year. By almost any measure of contract value, Rudolph will be among the five highest-paid players in the NFL at his position.“It was easy for me to come out here and just focus on football, because I had two agents that I trust and I play for an organization that I trust,” Rudolph said after the team’s first practice of a three-day minicamp.Rudolph, a two-time Pro Bowl pick who had 64 receptions for 634 yards and four touchdowns in 2018 http://www.packersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jace-sternberger-jersey , has remained a key cog in the offense though never quite reaching the levels of productivity of peers such as Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz, Greg Olsen or Jason Witten have over the duration of his career. He is second among tight ends in Vikings history in catches and yards. Having played in every game over the past four seasons, Rudolph has a streak of 65 consecutive games started that is a franchise record and the longest active run by a tight end in the league.“I feel better now from a physical standpoint at 29 than I did at 21,” Rudolph said. “You just learn how to take care of your body.”The native of Cincinnati and product of Notre Dame has spoken often about how at home his family has felt in Minnesota . He’s a two-time nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award for community service .“There’s a reason why I had no interest in testing free agency,” Rudolph said. “It’s because of the culture that they’ve established around here, and culture is what ultimately brings championships. In this league, the talent level is so even across all 32 teams, and if you don’t have good culture then you don’t have a chance.” COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — Joey Bosa is hoping to return to form with the Los Angeles Chargers wearing a new Dexter Williams Jersey , yet familiar, number.The defensive end has switched from No. 99 to 97. Bosa wore that number at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Ohio State.It is also a significant number for the Bosa family. John Bosa wore No. 97 for three seasons in the NFL and Nick Bosa, Joey’s younger brother, will wear it for San Francisco after being the second overall pick in the April draft.“I’ve been just meaning to do that for a while now. It’s just a cool tradition. I’d like to keep it going,” he said.Bosa said he wanted to change numbers last year . until the NFL informed him that it would cost $500,000 due to a large inventory of his jerseys in stock. With the Chargers making the change to their powder blue jerseys as their primary home uniform, it means Bosa doesn’t have to pay anything.He is also hoping the new number helps bring about better health. Bosa missed the first nine games of last season due to a bruised left foot injury he suffered at the start of training camp. He still managed 5.5 sacks in seven regular-season games despite still dealing with pain from the injury.Bosa said he was happy to avoid a Lisfranc-type surgery. He is still dealing with some soreness but that hasn’t limited him physically.“It’s not causing a limp or anything. It’s just there. It’s just something I notice,” he said. “It’s been getting better all offseason, so I could definitely see by camp or maybe even next year where it kind of starts fading away. Once you get into season Max Scharping Jersey , it gets pretty intense, so we’ll see.”Bosa missed the first four weeks of the Chargers offseason program while he was training in Florida but returned to the team facility this week for the start of organized team activities. Teams can have 10 practices of limited on-field work before the mandatory minicamp in three weeks.“It’s a good time to knock the rust off and get practicing with your hands and pass-rush,” Bosa said. “If you miss all of this and you show up in camp, you’re rusty then. You want to be rolling by that point.”The Chargers and Bosa are hoping he can return to the level he played his first two years, when he had 23 sacks, including an NFL-record 19 in his first 20 games. Bosa led the Chargers in 2017 in tackles (54) and sacks (12.5) en route to making the Pro Bowl for the first time.Los Angeles was ninth in the league in total defense, but 22nd in sacks per pass play. Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley could see those numbers increase with a healthy Bosa.“You can count on Joey. He’s going to come back in great shape. He looks awesome. He feels really good. To get him back on the field — just that brotherhood part where the guys are together again. I think that’s important,” Bradley said.