Per Jordan Schultz, Rudolph will retire as a member of the Minnesota Vikings, who drafted him with the No. 43 overall pick back in 2011. Rudolph spent the first 10 years of his career with the Vikings, racking up 453 receptions for 4,488 yards and 48 touchdowns while earning two Pro Bowl nods. He would spend his final two season with the Giants (2021) and the Buccaneers (2022), playing in limited roles across 25 games. The Vikings reportedly plan to honor Rudolph during their Week 3 matchup against the Chargers.

Rudolph is out of the picture with Cade Otton emerging as a legitimate rookie contributor. The Buccaneers will also be without Leonard Fournette and Russell Gage, who were ruled out earlier in the week. Rachaad White will start at running back, potentially seeing workhorse usage.

Gronk is retired for now, with some in the Bucs organization believing he's not done with football. The team last week signed Rudolph, 32, coming off an uninspiring season with the Giants in which he caught 26 of his 39 targets for 257 yards and a touchdown. Gronkowski's retirement vacated 90 targets in the Tampa offense, and while Rudolph seeing all those looks is highly unlikely, he could be a passable streaming option in favorable matchups this season. Stroud said Cameron Brate's targets would "greatly increase" in Gronk's absence. Brate was second on the team in targets inside the ten yard line in 2021. 

Headed into his age-33 season, Rudolph now joins a championship-caliber Bucs squad that lost O.J. Howard in free agency before Rob Gronkowski then decided to call it a career this summer. Rudolph doesn’t have a whole lot left in the tank, but the longtime Vikings former second-rounder is still a capable red-zone target and should help fill that role vacated by Gronkowski. We shouldn’t expect big fantasy numbers from Rudolph in a timeshare with Cameron Brate and rookies Cade Otton and Ko Kieft.