Guard Josh Kline was signed by the Vikings in March of 2019, and in March 2020, it terminated Kline’s contact.
Minnesota announced the decision to do so Wednesday. The team can still re-sign Kline if it wants.
Kline was part of an offensive line that helped running back Dalvin Cook have a career year, rushing for 1,135 and 13 touchdowns.
Pro Football Focus ranked each Vikings offensive lineman and of the main five last season, gave Kline the third best rating (64.7 out of 100).
The move comes as a slight surprise, but the Vikings are strapped for cash, so cutting players makes sense this offseason. One reason this move comes as a surprise is the money saved. Minnesota gets just over $1.5 million in cap savings, and the move creates over $4.4 million in dead money for 2020, according to Over The Cap.
Kline was on the field for 71.7% of total offensive snaps for the Vikings this season, per the team.
This move is strange to me, especially when Riley Reiff seemed a lot more likely to be a cap casualty. That can still happen, but if it does, Minnesota’s offensive line could look a lot different.