The Vikings terminated the contract of guard Josh Kline, leaving some to wonder what the team’s plan is for the offseason.
Kline wasn’t dominant last season, but he was decent, and compared to others on the offensive line who could be cap casualties, this decision comes as a surprise.
Pro Football Focus reported that Kline earned a 64.7 rating out of possible 100 last season. That total ranked third among the Vikings mainstay offensive linemen in 2019-20.
Per Ben Goessling, Josh Kline’s dead money total only incurs $2.66 million, as opposed to the originally reported $4.4 million dollar sum. But the move is still a strange one, considering Kline’s level of play and how the decision doesn’t save that much money, and it leaves a hole on the offensive line, a position group the Vikings have struggled to sustain with consistency.
But let’s humor the Vikings: what is the presumptive plan for this team if Kline is moving on?
Here are some possible scenarios:
Move Riley Reiff to guard, find a tackle
This move has been suggested by some. Reiff has been decent with Minnesota, but he might be a better fit as a guard, and this is a tackle-heavy draft where the Vikings have two first-round picks.
Also, the Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer reported in February of 2019 that the Vikings were pondering a change to guard for Reiff. So maybe this is what the team is thinking in cutting Kline.