Kyle Rudolph

Former Vikings tight end on Kirk Cousins in Atlanta.

Transcript

00:00Knowing him the way you know him, do you think that he would have signed there if he had

00:03known they were going to use that top 10 pick on his predecessor or his successor?

00:08Well, I think, you know, for me personally, I can only relate to, you know, what's in

00:14my head and how I would have approached things.

00:16And certainly, I think the reason why he left Minnesota was, hey, I still feel like I have

00:22four years left in the tank and I want a multi-year contract.

00:27I want more than just a one-year deal where, you know, I have to prove to you that, you

00:31know, prior to getting hurt, I was still playing at a very, very high level.

00:37So ultimately, I understand exactly why he went to Atlanta, why he chose Atlanta.

00:41The talent around him, I think just off the top of my head, it's $100 million guaranteed

00:47over the next two years.

00:48So the cash isn't bad either.

00:51But ultimately, as a competitor, as someone who, in his heart of hearts, truly believes

00:56I have four good years left, you know, you want to be the quarterback in Atlanta for

01:01four years.

01:02You don't want to go there for two years and then go move again and move your family and

01:05start over at 38 when, you know, you just did it at 35, 36.

01:10So I think ultimately, there probably is a little bit like, hey, you know, I thought

01:15this was a great situation.

01:17Again, ultimately, he's going to make a lot of money over the next two years.

01:21He's got a lot of talent around him.

01:23So, you know, the chips are still all on his hands.

01:26And then he has the opportunity to control, you know, his destiny in Atlanta with how

01:31he plays.