Getty Giants' Kyle Rudolph appears unlikely to be ready by the start of the NFL's 2021 regular season.
After the New York Giants had an agreement in place to sign veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph to a two-year, $12 million deal in the offseason, his physical revealed that he would require foot surgery. However, the Giants chose not to re-negotiate the contract they had in place, with the expectation that Rudolph would be ready by Week 1 of the regular season.
But not so fast, as we are now several weeks into training camp, and Rudolph still resides on the physically unable to perform list. But on a positive note, he did just start doing side work with the trainers as of today, August 19, as the Giants are in Cleveland for joint practices with the Browns.
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While this is certainly a promising sign, Rudolph had not yet participated in any level of football activities until this afternoon. And regarding injured players who do side work with the training staff, it could possibly take up to a number of weeks to get back to practice.
For Rudolph, the clock is ticking because in just 12 short days, the Giants will have to trim their roster down from 80 to 53 players on August 31. And they could have a difficult decision to make if Rudolph is still not ready to go by then.
The Giants can either keep Rudolph on the PUP list, which means he will be out for the first six games of the season, or they can give him a spot on the active roster, even if he isn’t ready to return. If they go with the second option, they risk wasting a valuable roster spot on a potential non-contributor.
Whatever they decide to do, it will definitely be a tough call, as the Giants could be playing short-handed for either Week 1, or a number of games if Rudolph is still on the shelf. The Giants must do their due diligence in order to determine whether Rudolph will be able to play and make an impact within the first six weeks of the season, or if it would make more sense to sit him until he is 100% healthy.
Gettleman on Rudolph
When asked about Rudolph on Tuesday, general manager Dave Gettleman evaded questions about the surgery and timeline, while addressing the initial injury instead.
“We knew about it all along,” Gettleman told reporters on August 17, 2021. “We didn’t go into this blind. Do you think I do this for a hobby? We’re fine.”
This caused a misunderstanding based on Rudolph’s comments on the situation back in March when it was first discovered that the foot injury, which caused him to miss the final four games of last season with the Minnesota Vikings, would require surgery.
“It was an issue from [last] season. We can fix it in March and I won’t miss any football,” Rudolph said. “Everyone expected it to heal on its own and it didn’t.” He added that the Giants honoring his handshake agreement was “one of the many reasons [to sign here] is the way this organization is run from the top down.”
Giant Clarification
Following this turn of events, the Giants released a written statement from Gettleman afterward, which clarified the confusion: “We honored the agreement because our doctors were confident Kyle would be fine following the procedure.”
Although the Giants were initially confident about Rudolph’s timeline, his status for the beginning of the season is now up in the air.
Rudolph is headed into his 11th season in the NFL, where he spent his first 10 years with the Vikings, before signing with the Giants back in March. The 31-year-old has been a premier tight end in the league, as both a pass-catcher and a blocker. Rudolph is a two-time Pro Bowler, and has racked up 453 receptions, 4,448 receiving yards and 48 touchdowns in 140 (132 starts) career games.
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